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A Multidisciplinary Field Hospital as a Substitute For Medical Hospital Care in the Aftermath of an Earthquake: The Experience of the Israeli Defense Forces Field Hospital in Duzce, Turkey, 1999

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Yaron Bar-Dayan ,
Adi Leiba ,
Pinar Beard ,
David Mankuta ,
Dan Engelhart ,
Yftah Beer ,
Mauryzio Lynn ,
Yuval Weiss ,
Giora Martonovits  and
Paul Benedek
...Show all authors
Yaron Bar-Dayan*
Affiliation:
IDF Medical Corps Mission Team Field Hospital, IDF Medical Corps Mission TeamDuzce, Turkey Department of Health Management, Faculty of Medicine, Ben-Gurion University
Adi Leiba
Affiliation:
Department of Health Management, Faculty of Medicine, Ben-Gurion University
Pinar Beard
Affiliation:
Medical Volunteer, Turkey
David Mankuta
Affiliation:
IDF Medical Corps Mission Team Field Hospital, IDF Medical Corps Mission TeamDuzce, Turkey
Dan Engelhart
Affiliation:
IDF Medical Corps Mission Team Field Hospital, IDF Medical Corps Mission TeamDuzce, Turkey
Yftah Beer
Affiliation:
IDF Medical Corps Mission Team Field Hospital, IDF Medical Corps Mission TeamDuzce, Turkey
Mauryzio Lynn
Affiliation:
IDF Medical Corps Mission Team Field Hospital, IDF Medical Corps Mission TeamDuzce, Turkey
Yuval Weiss
Affiliation:
IDF Medical Corps Mission Team Field Hospital, IDF Medical Corps Mission TeamDuzce, Turkey
Giora Martonovits
Affiliation:
IDF Medical Corps Mission Team Field Hospital, IDF Medical Corps Mission TeamDuzce, Turkey
Paul Benedek
Affiliation:
IDF Medical Corps Mission Team Field Hospital, IDF Medical Corps Mission TeamDuzce, Turkey
Avishay Goldberg
Affiliation:
Department of Health Management, Faculty of Medicine, Ben-Gurion University
*
Chief Medical Officer of the IDF Home Front Command, 16 Dolev St. Neve Savion, Or Yehuda, Israel E-mail: bardayan@netvision.net.il
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Abstract

The damage created by an earthquake can overwhelm local health services, and damage to clinics and hospitals can render them useless. After an earthquake, even undamaged medical facilities cannot be used for a period of time if there is a risk of aftershocks and collapse.

In such a situation, there may be calls for international health teams – but what constitutes the optimal medical aid a few days after the event? Does a military field hospital fill the “gap” in the local healthcare system?

On 12 November 1999, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Duzce, Turkey. All of the medical activities of the responding Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) mission team field hospital in Duzce, Turkey were recorded and evaluated. A total of 2,230 patient contacts occurred at the field hospital during the nine days it operated. Most of the patients who presented (90%) had non-traumatic medical, pediatric, or gynecological problems unrelated to the earthquake.

The IDF hospital offered medical care provided by specialists, hospitalization, and surgical abilities, which Duzce's hospitals could not offer until two weeks after the earthquake. These results strengthen the importance of a multidisciplinary, versatile, field hospital as an aid to an earthquake-affected population during the first few weeks after an earthquake.

Keywords

after-shockearthquakefield hospitalTurkey
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , April 2005 , pp. 103 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2005

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