Medical Evacuations and Fatalities of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Field Employees

Peytremann, Isabelle; Baduraux, Michel; O’Donovan, Sinead M.; Loutan, Louis

doi:10.2310/7060.2001.24438

Cited by 25 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…In an assessment on medical evacuation and fatalities among civilian UN employees, infectious diseases were identified as a leading cause with 17% of the registered evacuations. Among the fatalities, infections accounted for even 41% [ 8 ]. Further, a Coxiella burnetii induced outbreak was recorded during UN deployment of Argentinean police forces in Kosovo [ 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enteric pathogens in German police officers after predominantly tropical deployments – A retrospective assessment over 5 years

Halfter

Müseler²,

Hagen

et al. 2020

EuJMI

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IntroductionThe study was performed to assess the infection risk of German police officers on predominantly tropical deployments, mostly United Nations missions, with gastrointestinal pathogens.MethodsPolice officers were offered PCR-based screening for gastrointestinal pathogens before and after deployment. The screening panel comprised enteroinvasive bacteria (Salmonella spp., Shigella spp./enteroinvasive Escherichia coli, Campylobacter jejuni, and Yersinia spp.), enteropathogenic protozoa (Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp., and Cyclospora cayetanensis), as well as enteric helminths (Ancyclostoma spp., Ascaris lumbricoides, Enterobius vermicularis, Hymenolepis nana, Necator americanus, African Schistosoma spp., Strongyloides stercoralis, Taenia saginata, Taenia solium, and Trichuris trichiura).ResultsG. duodenalis (n = 3), C. jejuni (n = 2), Salmonella spp. (n = 1), Shigella spp./enteroinvasive E. coli (n = 3), and S. stercoralis (n = 3) were detect in 12 out of 133 (9.0%) police officers. The majority had shown gastrointestinal symptoms on deployment and all were asymptomatic at the time of medical assessment. The major infection sites were Sub-Saharan Africa followed by Northern Africa and the Middle East.ConclusionsDeployment of police officers to tropical deployment sites on United Nations missions is associated with a considerable acquisition risk of gastrointestinal pathogens in a quantitatively relevant minority. Post-deployment screening is advisable to facilitate therapeutic and hygiene-related consequences.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enteric pathogens in German police officers after predominantly tropical deployments – A retrospective assessment over 5 years

Halfter

Müseler²,

Hagen

et al. 2020

EuJMI

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“…To conduct a controlled medical evacuation of a significant number of severely injured patients requires time and specific skills, and long distances may further complicate the medical evacuation. 15 From a psychosocial perspective, temporary visitors such as tourists are especially vulnerable as they have been disconnected from their normal social networks and likely have only a limited understanding of the local rescue and medical services system. Significant stress reactions and long-lasting psychological problems, including PTSD, have been reported among tourists exposed to disaster experiences abroad.…”

Section: General and Specific Assistancementioning

confidence: 99%

Consular Crisis Management Operations: Special Considerations and Challenges

Hugelius

2020

Prehosp. Disaster med.

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Assisting the increasing number of tourists and foreign nationals exposed to crises situations in third countries—many of them far from home and extremely vulnerable—presents significant challenges. Despite the need to explore consular crisis management from an operational perspective, there are few studies that address the issue. This paper aims to describe the characteristics and context of consular crisis management operations based on personal experiences, scientific papers, grey literature, and key informant interviews.Consular crisis management operations are conducted in a context where the stakeholders and the legal environment may differ from humanitarian or civil protection operations. The physical distance causes logistical challenges and demands specific considerations for both civilian and medical evacuation. Consular crisis management operations often include medical care, psychosocial support activities, and disaster victim identification (DVI) activities. Political and media interest may also add significant challenges to such operations. Therefore, specific knowledge, skills, and preparations are needed for both diplomatic crisis management professionals and health professionals. Further research on consular crisis management activities—as well as the concept of consular crisis management itself—is strongly needed.

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“…Using confirmed numerator and denominator data, this study estimates a rate of six intentional violence incidents per 10,000 aid workers (Rowley, 2007;Rowley et al, 2008). 9 A separate study examined medical evacuations (162) and deaths (37) among UNHCR field employees -national and international staff as well as consultants -in 1994 and 1995 (Peytremann et al, 2001). The major causes of evacuations were infectious diseases (17 percent) and accidents (15 percent).…”

Section: Research From the 'Usual Suspects'mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nor does the research definitively lay to rest debates about the relative impact of security and safety incidents. While a number of studies (Abbott, 2006;King, 2002b, c;Rowley, 2005Rowley, , 2007Sheik et al, 2000;Stoddard et al, 2006) cite intentional violence as the cause of the majority of deaths, others (Lange et al, 1994;Martin, 1999;Peytremann et al, 2001;Ryan and Heiden, 1990) point to safety incidents as being more significant. Liability and publicity concerns, however, might be responsible for skewing these results in favour of reporting safety incidents and not security incidents (King, 2002c) even though security incidents, especially fatalities, receive more media attention.…”

Section: Conclusion About Proximate Cause From Existing Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mind the gap: Documenting and explaining violence against aid workers

Fast

2010

European Journal of International Relations

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The brutal murder of 17 national staff members of Action Contre le Faim (ACF) in Sri Lanka in August 2006 and ambushes, kidnappings, and murders of aid workers elsewhere have captured headlines. This article reviews the prevailing explanations, assumptions, and research on why humanitarian actors experience security threats. The scholarly literature on humanitarian action is fecund and abundant, yet no comparative review of the research on humanitarian security and scholarly sources on humanitarian action exists to date. The central argument here is twofold. First, an epistemic gap exists between one stream that focuses primarily on documenting violence against aid workers -a proximate cause approach -while a second literature proposes explanations, or deep causes, often without corresponding empirical evidence. Moreover, the deep cause literature emphasizes external, changing global conditions to the neglect of other possible micro and internal explanations. Both of these have negative implications for our understanding of and therefore strategies to address security threats against aid workers.

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Medical Evacuations and Fatalities of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Field Employees

Cited by 25 publications

References 18 publications

Enteric pathogens in German police officers after predominantly tropical deployments – A retrospective assessment over 5 years

Enteric pathogens in German police officers after predominantly tropical deployments – A retrospective assessment over 5 years

Consular Crisis Management Operations: Special Considerations and Challenges

Mind the gap: Documenting and explaining violence against aid workers

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