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(A80) Second Thoughts about the Health System and Dilemmas in Wide Disasters, Using Haiti as a Case Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2011

K. Peleg
Affiliation:
Israel National Center for Trauma and Emergency Medicine, Ramat Gan, Israel
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Abstract

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In the Indonesian earthquake a total 21 USAR teams comprising upward of 688 rescue personnel and 67 dogs. The cost of which was estimated at tens of millions of dollars did not succeed in extricating any trappers. In Haiti, there were around 350000 casualties and 250000 dead. In this disaster 43 international USAR missions comprising over 1700 rescuers were deployed. These teams succeeded in rescuing approximately 134 trapped people, an average of about 3 trapped people per mission. During this period one field hospital treated a total of 1,111 people, 737 of these patients were hospitalized, 243 surgical procedures were carried out, of which at least 200 were life-saving procedures. In addition many other life-saving procedures that were not directly related to the injuries inflicted as a result of the earthquake were also carried out. Without the resources of the field hospital it is very possible that most of the trappers would not have survived. It mean; One field hospital (personal: 120 people) was able to save more people than 43 USAR teams, all of the highly dedicated and professional, who worked day and night to extricate people trapped.ngs. It seems that there is no need to carry out a complex economic analysis in order to determine the cost benefits and understand the significance of providing field hospitals and clinics as soon as possible after the occurrence of a disaster stemming from an earthquake. A consensus/brainstorming conference is needed.

The aim

To formulate a logical and balanced approach to configuring and dispatching rescue and medical missions. The major goal of the conference would be to establish the guidelines for rescue missions that will result in the rescue of the maximum number of people, and to provide guidelines for the provision humanitarian aid in parallel to the rescue missions.

Type
Abstracts of Scientific and Invited Papers 17th World Congress for Disaster and Emergency Medicine
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2011