Haiti Disaster Tourism—A Medical Shame

Abstract

The devastating Haiti earthquake rightly resulted in an outpouring of international aid. Relief teams can be of tremendous value during disasters due to natural hazards. Although nobly motivated to help, all emergency interventions have unintended consequences. In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, many selfless individuals committed to help, but was this really all in the name of reaching out a helping hand? This case report illustrates that medical disaster tourism is alive and well. IntroductionOn 12 January 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake crumbled the capital of Haiti to the ground. The world watched as this devastating event resulted in an outpouring of international aid and well-intentioned disaster relief teams raced to Port-au-Prince to help. But was this really all in the name of reaching out a helping hand, or were we witnessing disaster tourism?Three authors were volunteers who responded in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, where, among the many selfless individuals committed only to doing the right thing, we experienced disaster tourism first-hand. Our ordeal illustrates that medical disaster tourism is alive and well; we wonder whether the medical fraternity should hang its head in shame.

Disaster medical assistance in super typhoon Haiyan: collaboration with local medical team resulted in great synergy

“…[8] Disaster tourists headed to the site without any proper set of knowledge and attitude have been criticized recently. [9] Many unprepared foreign medical teams have operated freely and unmonitored. Lack of coordination has led to duplication of aid in certain regions and gaps in others.…”

Critically Assessing the Haiti Earthquake Response and the Barriers to Quality Orthopaedic Care

“…Group organization, the most recurrent theme (31 occurrences), likely represents the most major opportunity for improvement in future orthopaedic disaster relief. Deficient organization and coordination of efforts are recognized problems of disaster response [1,35,58]. From the initial response onward, injured Haitians and relief teams were challenged Neutral impact of media on patient care .003** * Comparison of thematic count data is relative to the most recurrent theme which was group organization with a total of 31 thematic occurrences from the 14 key informant interviews; **statistically significant p \ .05; AAOS/OTA = American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons/Orthopaedic Trauma Association.…”

“…Additionally, since airport-related delays impeded resource distribution and likely contributed to the observed difficulty with these equipment management tasks [18,45], some have suggested ''pre-positioning'' medical and surgical supplies at strategic airfields with ''pre-clearance'' through international customs [13]. Concerns regarding the intentions, experience, and credentialing of responders to the Haiti earthquake led to labels such as SUVs or ''disaster tourists'' [58], as in prior disasters [25,51]. Inexperienced and untrained volunteers were urged to stay home because they lacked security, equipment, patient followup systems, and cultural sensitivity preparedness [9,18].…”

Chester Step Test as a Reliable, Reproducible Method of Assessing Physical Fitness of Disaster Deployment Personnel

“…6 In addition, much has been written regarding disaster medical tourism as a phenomenon occurring shortly after disasters, including the 2010 Haiti earthquake. 7,8 Burkle, among others, has examined the need for standards for foreign medical teams and the need to demonstrate competencies through examination or experience. 9 Redmond and colleagues developed a formal register for medical staff in the United Kingdom to ensure they are "fit to go" without significantly depleting national health service resources.…”