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Decision Support Framework for Deployment of Emergency Medical Teams After Earthquakes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2020

Andrea Bartolucci ,
Kevin Mackway-Jones  and
Anthony D. Redmond
Andrea Bartolucci*
Affiliation:
Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI), University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
Kevin Mackway-Jones
Affiliation:
The Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom
Anthony D. Redmond
Affiliation:
Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI), University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Andrea Bartolucci, Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI), Ellen Wilkinson Building, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK (e-mail: and.bart.olucci@gmail.com).
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Abstract

Objective:

The effectiveness of Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) is strongly related to their time of arrival, and usually only few teams arrive within 24-48 h postdisaster. The decision to deploy and the scale of deployment rely heavily on context and nature of the event and consequently a rapid assessment of needs/gaps is critical to an appropriate and customized response.

Methods:

In this study, we describe a desk-based study that provides: (1) knowledge about the medical needs that can be anticipated according to the phases of the disaster that is not rich in literature; and (2) a decision support framework for the deployment of EMTs to earthquakes that combines the results of a literature research and a Delphi study involving the opinion of 12 experts in the field.

Results:

The resulting framework is a tool that will help better mapping the configuration to the needs on the ground at the time the team becomes operational in the field and will assist those responsible for deploying and/or accepting EMTs in making informed decisions on deployment after an earthquake.

Conclusions:

With additional research the framework approach may be adapted to other types of international relief such as to deploy a Search And Rescue (SAR) team.

Keywords

decision support frameworkDelphi studyemergency medical team (EMT)humanitarian deploymentsearch and rescue (SAR)
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 15 , Issue 6 , December 2021 , pp. 727 - 734
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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