Military Medical Assistance Following Natural Disasters: Refining the Rapid Response

Haley, Timothy F.; Lorenzo, Robert A. De

doi:10.1017/s1049023x00006476

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…, 3 WHO guidelines indicate that a unit should be on-site and operational within 24 hours if it intends to provide life-saving trauma resuscitation and surgery. Unfortunately, the window of opportunity to perform life-saving surgery is narrow and passes before the deployed surgical teams can become operational in most cases 4 . Our experience indicates that the surgical load peaks 48 hours after the quake and then rapidly tapers off from the seventh day onward.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Unfortunately, the window of opportunity to perform life-saving surgery is narrow and passes before the deployed surgical teams can become operational in most cases. 4 Our experience indicates that the surgical load peaks 48 hours after the quake and then rapidly tapers off from the seventh day onward. The survivors are recovered from the debris and brought to the nearest medical post and then transferred to the surgical teams in the initial 48 hours.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 89%

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Deployment of Medical Relief Teams of the Indian Army in the Aftermath of the Nepal Earthquake: Lessons Learned

Chauhan

Chopra²

2016

Disaster med. public health prep.

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In April 2015 a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal. As part of relief operations named Operation Maitri, the Indian Armed Forces deployed 3 field hospitals in the disaster zone. Rapid deployment of mobile surgical teams to far-flung, inaccessible areas was done by helicopters. In an operational deployment spanning 1 month, a total of 7532 patients were treated and 105 surgeries were carried out on 83 patients. One-fifth of the patients were less than 18 years of age. One-third of the patients had traumatic injuries directly attributable to the earthquake, whereas the remaining patients were treated for diseases of poor sanitation and hygiene as well as chronic illness that had been neglected owing to the collapse of the local health infrastructure. Cases of traumatic injuries directly related to the earthquake were seen maximally on the 5th day after the index event but tapered off rapidly by the 10th day. Nontraumatic illness required more attention thereafter and a need was felt for separate child health and reproductive health services later in the mission. Although immediate management of injuries and surgical intervention in selected cases was possible, ensuring long-term care and rehabilitation of cases proved problematic. This was especially so for spinal injury cases. Data capturing by a paper-based system was found to be inadequate. The lessons learned from this mission have led to a reimagining of the composition of future relief operations. Apart from mobile surgical teams, on which conventional field hospitals are generally centered, a separate section for preventive medicine and child and maternal services is needed. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:394-398).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 89%

Deployment of Medical Relief Teams of the Indian Army in the Aftermath of the Nepal Earthquake: Lessons Learned

Chauhan

Chopra²

2016

Disaster med. public health prep.

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“…This medical aid delegation was assembled within hours and embarked to the Philippines. In cases of natural disasters with a multitude of casualties, rapid deployment is key in order to exert a beneficial effect to the local population in terms of morbidity and mortality [ 6 ]. As our delegation personnel was assembled from a relatively heterogeneous background, active and reserve duty alike, it required the appointed medical personnel to bring their everyday life to a sudden standstill and embark on an unknown and often disconcerting task [ 7 ].…”

Section: Case Presentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparation of medical personnel for an early response humanitarian mission – lessons learned from the Israeli defense forces field hospital in the Philippines

Erlich

Shina

Segal

et al. 2015

Disaster and Mil Med

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IntroductionHumanitarian aid provision and early medical response missions to areas ravaged by natural disasters are as essential nowadays as in the past, and medical personnel play a pivotal role in these delegations.Case descriptionIn November 2013, tropical cyclone Haiyan (Yolanda) slammed the Philippines archipelago, leaving more than an estimated 6000 dead in its wake while demolishing vital infrastructure and affecting the life of an estimated 25 million locals. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) rapidly constructed and sent a humanitarian aid delegation which included a field hospital deployment with medical capabilities from diverse specialty fields.Discussion and evaluationThe purpose of this article is to summarize our experience in the preparation process of medical personnel before and during deployment. We offer a simple, practical and structured checklist that will assist the medical specialist in preparation for his mission.ConclusionPreparation of medical personnel for humanitarian aid medical missions is a complex and vital task that might be better accomplished with thorough briefing and structured checklists which begin with addressing of personal safety and other daily needs of the staff.

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“…Communication with treatment centers, decontamination of medical facilities, and providing patients with comfort amidst trauma are other tasks that combat medics share with civilian EMTs. Moreover, the techniques that military trauma care employs have been influential in the civilian realm, particularly in the context of disaster relief Haley and De Lorenzo 2009;Malish et al 2009). …”

Section: Institutional Detailsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Combat Losses of Medical Personnel to Estimate the Impact of Trauma Care in Battle: Evidence from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan

Rohlfs

Sullivan

Treistman

et al. 2015

Defence and Peace Economics

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This study investigates the effect that US medical personnel deaths in combat have on other unit deaths and 'military success,' which we measure using commendation medals as a proxy. We use a difference-in-differences identification strategy, measuring the changes over time in these outcomes following the combat loss of a medic or doctor and comparing it to the changes following the combat loss of a soldier who is not a medic or doctor. We find that overall unit deaths decrease in the five or ten days following the deaths of medical personnel in Vietnam, Korea, and the Pacific theater in World War II (WWII). In contrast, the WWII European and North African results indicate that overall unit deaths rise following medical personnel deaths. We find no relationship between medical personnel deaths and other unit deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. For Korea and the Pacific theater of WWII, our estimates suggest unit commendation medals decrease following the deaths of medical personnel. This pattern of evidence is consistent with a model in which units often halted aggressive tactical maneuvers and reduced pursuit of their military objectives until deceased medical personnel were replaced. The results for the other conflicts are mixed and show little connection between medical personnel deaths and commendation medals.

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Military Medical Assistance Following Natural Disasters: Refining the Rapid Response

Abstract: All countries came into Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth Genesis 41:57

Cited by 7 publications

References 15 publications

Deployment of Medical Relief Teams of the Indian Army in the Aftermath of the Nepal Earthquake: Lessons Learned

Deployment of Medical Relief Teams of the Indian Army in the Aftermath of the Nepal Earthquake: Lessons Learned

Preparation of medical personnel for an early response humanitarian mission – lessons learned from the Israeli defense forces field hospital in the Philippines

Using Combat Losses of Medical Personnel to Estimate the Impact of Trauma Care in Battle: Evidence from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan

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