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Disaster Medicine Education for Israeli Medical Response Teams to the Ukrainian Refugee Crisis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2023

Lea Ohana Sarna Cahan Open the ORCID record for Lea Ohana Sarna Cahan [Opens in a new window] ,
Gila Meirson ,
Tamara Kolitz ,
Evan Avraham Alpert ,
Ahmed Naame ,
Oren Tavor  and
Saar Hashavya
Lea Ohana Sarna Cahan*
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel BIDMC Disaster Medicine Fellowship, Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts USA
Gila Meirson
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Edith Wolfson Medical Center, Hulon, Israel
Tamara Kolitz
Affiliation:
Institute of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism, and Hypertension, Tel Aviv-Sourasky Medical Center, Israel LeMa’anam - Physicians for Holocaust Survivors, Israel
Evan Avraham Alpert
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
Ahmed Naame
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
Oren Tavor
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Dana-Dwek Children Hospital, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel
Saar Hashavya
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
*
Correspondence: Lea Ohana Sarna Cahan, Department of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel, E-mail: lea810@gmail.com
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Abstract

Introduction:

Disaster Medicine (DM) requires skills, knowledge, and prior experience that are rarely put to test by health care providers. Pediatric DM presents unique challenges in terms of both knowledge and practice.

Methods:

An anonymous survey consisting of demographic and five-point Likert scale questions was administered to physicians, nurses, and other medical personnel from Israel’s major medical emergency teams who were deployed to respond to the refugee crisis in Ukraine. This included teams from the Hadassah and Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centers and the Israel Ministry of Health.

Results:

Of the 171 members of the medical teams deployed on the Ukraine border, a total of 105 responses were obtained (61.4%) from 61 physicians, 50 nurses, and 12 other health care providers. The teams were composed of pediatricians (31.6%), internal medicine physicians (21.6%), Emergency Medicine and intensive care physicians (18.0%), and 31.0% other specialties.

For 60% of the participants, this was their first deployment, and 78% had received no training in DM. Members rated the need for DM training at 4/5 (IQR 3-5). Forty-nine (49) members (46.6%) were not briefed on situational awareness and 97 members (89.5%) were not trained in the recognition of acute stress reactions. The responders also rated their concerns about providing medical aid to children at 2/5 (IQR 1-3). A medical clown was part of the teams 42.8% of the time; the presence of clowns was rated at a median of 4/5 (IQR 4-5). The team members underscored the need for more targeted training in DM at 5/5 (IQR 3-5).

Conclusion:

The findings highlight the need for the formulation of a disaster education model that includes pediatric DM.

Keywords

Disaster Medicine educationglobal healthhumanitarian aidUkraine
Type
Research Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 38 , Issue 3 , June 2023 , pp. 384 - 387
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine

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