The global burden of cardiovascular mortality is increasing, as is the number of large-scale humanitarian emergencies. The interaction between these phenomena is not well understood. This review aims to clarify the relationship between humanitarian emergencies and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

With assistance from a research librarian, electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, and Global Health) were searched in January 2014. Findings were supplemented by reviewing citations of included trials. Observational studies reporting the effect of natural disasters and conflict events on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in adults since 1997 were included. Studies without a comparison group were not included. Double-data extraction was utilized to abstract information on acute coronary syndrome (ACS), acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), and sudden cardiac death (SCD). Review Manager 5.0 (Version 5.2, The Nordic Cochrane Centre; Copenhagen Denmark,) was used to create figures for qualitative synthesis.

The search retrieved 1,697 unique records; 24 studies were included (17 studies of natural disasters and seven studies of conflict). These studies involved 14,583 cardiac events. All studies utilized retrospective designs: four were population-based, 15 were single-center, and five were multicenter studies. Twenty-three studies utilized historical controls in the primary analysis, and one utilized primarily geographical controls.

Conflicts are associated with an increase in long-term morbidity from ACS; the short-term effects of conflict vary by study. Natural disasters exhibit heterogeneous effects, including increased occurrence of ACS, ADHF, and SCD.

In certain settings, humanitarian emergencies are associated with increased cardiac morbidity and mortality that may persist for years following the event. Humanitarian aid organizations should consider morbidity from noncommunicable disease when planning relief and recuperation projects.

HaymanKG, SharmaD, WardlowRDII, SinghS. Burden of Cardiovascular Morbidity and Mortality Following Humanitarian Emergencies: A Systematic Literature Review. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(1):1-9.

Pneumonia is a leading cause of death among children less than five years old during humanitarian emergencies. Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and Streptococcus pneumoniae are the leading causes of bacterial pneumonia. Vaccines for both of these pathogens are available to prevent pneumonia.

This study describes an economic analysis from a publicly funded health care system perspective performed on a birth cohort in Somalia, a country that has experienced a protracted humanitarian emergency.

An impact and cost-effectiveness analysis was performed comparing: no vaccine, Hib vaccine only, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 10 (PCV10) only, and both together administered through supplemental immunization activities (SIAs). The main summary measure was the incremental cost per disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) averted. One-way sensitivity analysis was conducted for uncertainty in parameter values.

Each SIA would avert a substantial number of cases and deaths. Compared with no vaccine, the DALYs averted by two SIAs for two doses of Hib vaccine was US $202.93 (lower and upper limits: $121.80-$623.52), two doses of PCV10 was US $161.51 ($107.24-$227.21), and two doses of both vaccines was US $152.42 ($101.20-$214.42). Variables that influenced the cost-effectiveness for each strategy most substantially were vaccine effectiveness, case fatality rates (CFRs), and disease burden.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a cost-effective intervention as costing one to three times the per capita gross domestic product (GDP; in 2011, for Somalia=US $112). Based on the presented model, Hib vaccine alone, PCV10 alone, or Hib vaccine and PCV10 given together in SIAs are cost-effective interventions in Somalia. The WHO/Strategic Advisory Group of Experts decision-making factors for vaccine deployment appear to have all been met: the disease burden is large, the vaccine-related risk is low, prevention in this setting is more feasible than treatment, the vaccine duration probably is sufficient for the vulnerable period of the child’s life, cost is reasonable, and herd immunity is possible.

GarganoLM, HajjehR, CooksonST. Pneumonia Prevention during a Humanitarian Emergency: Cost-effectiveness of Haemophilus Influenzae Type B Conjugate Vaccine and Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine in Somalia. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(4):110.

The aim of this study was to shed light on damage to water supply facilities and the state of water resource operation at disaster base hospitals in Miyagi Prefecture (Japan) in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake (2011), in order to identify issues concerning the operational continuity of hospitals in the event of a disaster.

In addition to interview and written questionnaire surveys to 14 disaster base hospitals in Miyagi Prefecture, a number of key elements relating to the damage done to water supply facilities and the operation of water resources were identified from the chronological record of events following the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Nine of the 14 hospitals experienced cuts to their water supplies, with a median value of three days (range = one to 20 days) for service recovery time. The hospitals that could utilize well water during the time that water supply was interrupted were able to obtain water in quantities similar to their normal volumes. Hospitals that could not use well water during the period of interruption, and hospitals whose water supply facilities were damaged, experienced significant disruption to dialysis, sterilization equipment, meal services, sanitation, and outpatient care services, though the extent of disruption varied considerably among hospitals. None of the hospitals had determined the amount of water used for different purposes during normal service or formulated a plan for allocation of limited water in the event of a disaster.

The present survey showed that it is possible to minimize the disruption and reduction of hospital functions in the event of a disaster by proper maintenance of water supply facilities and by ensuring alternative water resources, such as well water. It is also clear that it is desirable to conclude water supply agreements and formulate strategic water allocation plans in preparation for the eventuality of a long-term interruption to water services.

MatsumuraT, OsakiS, KudoD, FurukawaH, NakagawaA, AbeY, YamanouchiS, EgawaS, TominagaT, KushimotoS. Water Supply Facility Damage and Water Resource Operation at Disaster Base Hospitals in Miyagi Prefecture in the Wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(2):1-5.

Weapon injuries in armed conflict are likely to receive medical attention. Other types of injuries, like traffic accidents, continue to occur during armed conflict.

Injuries caused by weapons and by traffic accidents require treatment, but reports and figures to help in prioritizing care are scarce.

In a prospective observational study, all emergency patients admitted to the surgical ward in a public hospital of the Central African Republic were evaluated for the cause of their main injury. The proportion of patients injured by weapons and by traffic accidents was analyzed with respect to the level of violence.

Seventy-eight patients were included in this study. Weapon injuries accounted for 50 (64%) admissions and traffic accidents for 28 (36%). These proportions varied significantly according to the weekly level of violence (χ2=46.8; P<.001).

People injured in traffic accidents are an important, but overlooked, drain on surgical resources in low-income countries with armed conflict. Their proportion in relation to weapon wounded fluctuates with the level of violence. Humanitarian medical organizations might prepare themselves not only for weapon injuries, but also for wounds caused by traffic accidents.

SchneiderM. War Wounded and Victims of Traffic Accidents in a Surgical Hospital in Africa: An Observation on Injuries. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(6):618–620.

Exercises that simulate emergency scenarios are accepted widely as an essential component of a robust Emergency Preparedness program. Unfortunately, the variability in the quality of the exercises conducted, and the lack of standardized processes to measure performance, has limited the value of exercises in measuring preparedness.

In order to help health organizations improve the quality and standardization of the performance data they collect during simulated emergencies, a model online exercise evaluation toolkit was developed using performance measures tested in over 60 Emergency Preparedness exercises. The exercise evaluation toolkit contains three major components: (1) a database of measures that can be used to assess performance during an emergency response exercise; (2) a standardized data collection tool (form); and (3) a program that populates the data collection tool with the measures that have been selected by the user from the database. The evaluation toolkit was pilot tested from January through September 2014 in collaboration with 14 partnering organizations representing 10 public health agencies and four health care agencies from eight states across the US. Exercise planners from the partnering organizations were asked to use the toolkit for their exercise evaluation process and were interviewed to provide feedback on the use of the toolkit, the generated evaluation tool, and the usefulness of the data being gathered for the development of the exercise after-action report.

Ninety-three percent (93%) of exercise planners reported that they found the online database of performance measures appropriate for the creation of exercise evaluation forms, and they stated that they would use it again for future exercises. Seventy-two percent (72%) liked the exercise evaluation form that was generated from the toolkit, and 93% reported that the data collected by the use of the evaluation form were useful in gauging their organization’s performance during the exercise. Seventy-nine percent (79%) of exercise planners preferred the evaluation form generated by the toolkit to other forms of evaluations.

Results of this project show that users found the newly developed toolkit to be user friendly and more relevant to measurement of specific public health and health care capabilities than other tools currently available. The developed toolkit may contribute to the further advancement of developing a valid approach to exercise performance measurement.

AgboolaF, BernardD, SavoiaE, BiddingerPD. Development of an Online Toolkit for Measuring Performance in Health Emergency Response Exercises. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(5):503–508.

Health care workers (HCWs) who participate in humanitarian aid work experience a range of ethical challenges in providing care and assistance to communities affected by war, disaster, or extreme poverty. Although there is increasing discussion of ethics in humanitarian health care practice and policy, there are very few resources available for humanitarian workers seeking ethical guidance in the field. To address this knowledge gap, a Humanitarian Health Ethics Analysis Tool (HHEAT) was developed and tested as an action-oriented resource to support humanitarian workers in ethical decision making.

While ethical analysis tools increasingly have become prevalent in a variety of practice contexts over the past two decades, very few of these tools have undergone a process of empirical validation to assess their usefulness for practitioners.

A qualitative study consisting of a series of six case-analysis sessions with 16 humanitarian HCWs was conducted to evaluate and refine the HHEAT.

Participant feedback inspired the creation of a simplified and shortened version of the tool and prompted the development of an accompanying handbook.

The study generated preliminary insight into the ethical deliberation processes of humanitarian health workers and highlighted different types of ethics support that humanitarian workers might find helpful in supporting the decision-making process.

FraserV, HuntMR, de LaatS, SchwartzL. The Development of a Humanitarian Health Ethics Analysis Tool. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(4):19.

Debriefing, a controversial crisis intervention delivered in the early aftermath of a disaster, has not been well evaluated for use with children and adolescents. This report constitutes a review of the child debriefing evidence base.

A systematic search of selected bibliographic databases (EBM Reviews, EMBASE, ERIC, Medline, Ovid, PILOTS, PubMed, and PsycINFO) was conducted in the spring of 2014 using search terms related to psychological debriefing. The search was limited to English language sources and studies of youth, aged 0 to 18 years. No time limit was placed on date of publication. The search yielded 713 references. Titles and abstracts were reviewed to select publications describing scientific studies and clinical reports. Reference sections of these publications, and of other literature known to the authors that was not generated by the search, were used to locate additional materials. Review of these materials generated 187 publications for more thorough examination; this assessment yielded a total of 91 references on debriefing in children and adolescents. Only 15 publications on debriefing in children and adolescents described empirical studies. Due to a lack of statistical analysis of effectiveness data with youth, and some articles describing the same study, only seven empirical studies described in nine papers were identified for analysis for this review. These studies were evaluated using criteria for assessment of methodological rigor in debriefing studies.

Children and adolescents included in the seven empirical debriefing studies were survivors of motor-vehicle accidents, a maritime disaster, hostage taking, war, or peer suicides. The nine papers describing the seven studies were characterized by inconsistency in describing the interventions and populations and by a lack of information on intervention fidelity. Few of the studies used randomized design or blinded assessment. The results described in the reviewed studies were mixed in regard to debriefing’s effect on posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and other outcomes. Even in studies in which debriefing appeared promising, the research was compromised by potentially confounding interventions.

The results highlight the small empirical evidence base for drawing conclusions about the use of debriefing with children and adolescents, and they call for further dialogue regarding challenges in evaluating debriefing and other crisis interventions in children.

PfefferbaumB, JacobsAK, NitiémaP, EverlyGSJr.Child Debriefing: A Review of the Evidence Base. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(3):110.

The objective of this study was to determine if modification of the Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment (START) system by the addition of an Orange category, intermediate between the most critically injured (Red) and the non-critical, non-ambulatory injured (Yellow), would reduce over- and under-triage rates in a simulated mass-casualty incident (MCI) exercise.

A computer-simulation exercise of identical presentations of an MCI scenario involving a 2-train collision, with 28 case scenarios, was provided for triaging to two groups: the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY; n = 1,347) using modified START, and the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers from the Eagles 2012 EMS conference (Lafayette, Louisiana USA; n = 110) using unmodified START. Percent correct by triage category was calculated for each group. Performance was then compared between the two EMS groups on the five cases where Orange was the correct answer under the modified START system.

Overall, FDNY-EMS providers correctly triaged 91.2% of cases using FDNY-START whereas non-FDNY-Eagles providers correctly triaged 87.1% of cases using unmodified START. In analysis of the five Orange cases (chest pain or dyspnea without obvious trauma), FDNY-EMS performed significantly better using FDNY-START, correctly triaging 86.3% of cases (over-triage 1.5%; under-triage 12.2%), whereas the non-FDNY-Eagles group using unmodified START correctly triaged 81.5% of cases (over-triage 17.3%; under-triage 1.3%), a difference of 4.9% (95% CI, 1.5-8.2).

The FDNY-START system may allow providers to prioritize casualties using an intermediate category (Orange) more properly aligned to meet patient needs, and as such, may reduce the rates of over-triage compared with START. The FDNY-START system decreases the variability in patient sorting while maintaining high field utility without needing computer assistance or extensive retraining. Comparison of triage algorithms at actual MCIs is needed; however, initial feedback is promising, suggesting that FDNY-START can improve triage with minimal additional training and cost.

ArshadFH, WilliamsA, AsaedaG, IsaacsD, KaufmanB, Ben-EliD, GonzalezD, FreeseJP, HillgardnerJ, WeakleyJ, HallCB, WebberMP, PrezantDJ. A Modified Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment Algorithm from the New York City (USA) Fire Department. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(2):1-6.

Prehospital care, including patient transport, is integral in the patient care process during the Ebola response. Transporting ill persons from the community to Ebola care facilities can stop community spread. Vehicles used for patient transport in infectious disease outbreaks should be evaluated for adequate infection prevention and control.

An ambulance driver in Sierra Leone attributed his Ebola infection to exposure to body fluids that leaked from the patient compartment to the driver cabin of the ambulance.

A convenience sample of 14 vehicles used to transport patients with suspected or confirmed Ebola in Sierra Leone were assessed. The walls separating the patient compartment and driver cabin in these vehicles were evaluated for structural integrity and potential pathways for body fluid leakage. Ambulance drivers and other staff were asked to describe their cleaning and decontamination practices. Ambulance construction and design standards from the National Fire Protection Association, US General Services Administration, and European Committee on Standardization (CEN) were reviewed.

Many vehicles used by ambulance staff in Sierra Leone were not traditional ambulances, but were pick-up trucks or sport-utility vehicles that had been assembled or modified for patient transport. The wall separating the patient compartment and driver cabin in many vehicles did not have a waterproof seal around the edges. Staff responsible for cleaning and disinfection did not thoroughly clean bulk body fluids with disposable towels before disinfection of the patient compartment. Pressure from chlorine sprayers used in the decontamination process may have pushed body fluids from the patient compartment into the driver cabin through gaps around the wall. Ambulance design standards do not require a waterproof seal between the patient compartment and driver cabin. Sealing the wall by tightening or replacing existing bolts is recommended, followed by caulking of all seams with a sealant.

Waterproof separation between the patient compartment and driver cabin may be essential for patient transport vehicles in infectious disease outbreaks, especially when chlorine sprayers are used for decontamination or in resource-limited settings where cleaning supplies may be limited.

CaseyML, NguyenDT, IdrissB, BennettS, DunnA, MartinS. Potential Exposure to Ebola Virus from Body Fluids due to Ambulance Compartment Permeability in Sierra Leone. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(6):625–627.

It is not known what constitutes the optimal emergency management system, nor is there a consensus on how effectiveness and efficiency in emergency response should be measured or evaluated. Literature on the role and tasks of commanders in the prehospital emergency services in the setting of mass-casualty incidents has not been summarized and published.

This comprehensive literature review addresses some of the needs for future research in emergency management through three research questions: (1) What are the basic assumptions underlying incident command systems (ICSs)? (2) What are the tasks of ambulance and medical commanders in the field? And (3) How can field commanders’ performances be measured and assessed?

A systematic literature search in MEDLINE, PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Library, ISI Web of Science, Scopus, International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center, Current Controlled Trials, and PROSPERO covering January 1, 1990 through March 1, 2014 was conducted. Reference lists of included literature were hand searched. Included papers were analyzed using Framework synthesis.

The literature search identified 6,049 unique records, of which, 76 articles and books where included in qualitative synthesis. Most ICSs are described commonly as hierarchical, bureaucratic, and based on military principles. These assumptions are contested strongly, as is the applicability of such systems. Linking of the chains of command in cooperating agencies is a basic difficulty. Incident command systems are flexible in the sense that the organization may be expanded as needed. Commanders may command by direction, by planning, or by influence. Commanders’ tasks may be summarized as: conducting scene assessment, developing an action plan, distributing resources, monitoring operations, and making decisions. There is considerable variation between authors in nomenclature and what tasks are included or highlighted. There are no widely acknowledged measurement tools of commanders’ performances, though several performance indicators have been suggested.

The competence and experience of the commanders, upon which an efficient ICS has to rely, cannot be compensated significantly by plans and procedures, or even by guidance from superior organizational elements such as coordination centers. This study finds that neither a certain system or structure, or a specific set of plans, are better than others, nor can it conclude what system prerequisites are necessary or sufficient for efficient incident management. Commanders need to be sure about their authority, responsibility, and the functional demands posed upon them.

RimstadR, BrautGS. Literature Review on Medical Incident Command. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(2):1-11.