A Qualitative and Quantitative Study of the Surgical and Rehabilitation Response to the Earthquake in Haiti, January 2010

Abstract

This study showed that challenges for emergency medical response during the Haiti Earthquake involved issues of accountability, professional ethics, standards-of-care, unmet needs, patient agency and expected outcomes for patients in such settings:

Surgical workload of a foreign medical team after Typhoon Haiyan

“…6 Redmond reported a wide variation in amputation rates from 1% to 46%, noting the variation in definitions and timing of response. 7 Both AUSMAT surgical teams were experienced with limb salvage techniques and the decision to amputate was by protocol a two-surgeon decision. Our rate of amputation was 2.25% (five out of 222), although the injury profile differed markedly from the complex fractures and crush injuries seen in earthquakes.…”

“…Categorizing procedures as plastics, orthopaedics or general surgery was avoided as the demarcation of clinical responsibility and experience varies between different hospitals and surgeons. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Eighty-seven (69.7%) patients sought treatment for an injury directly attributable to the typhoon.…”

Orthopaedic surgeons and the response to disasters overseas

“…3 The experience of Haiti coming on the back of similar natural disasters in Pakistan and elsewhere, has led the World Health Organization and Global Health Cluster to establish a Foreign Medical Teams Working Group of which I am the current chair. 4 This group is looking to establish a minimum data set and uniform reporting to facilitate research and the establishment of best surgical practice as well as registration of teams and a commitment to certain standards.…”

The Outcomes and Impact of a Post-Earthquake Rehabilitation Program in China

“…An evaluation of a post-earthquake rehabilitation program in Pakistan highlighted the problem of a lack of standardized protocols and guidelines for trauma management that limited the effectiveness of such programs (Mallick, Aurakzai, Bile, & Ahmed, 2010). Redmond et al (2011) reviewed the literature on the Haiti earthquake and showed that the major challenges were accountability, professional ethics, care standards, and the unmet needs of earthquake survivors.…”