Masters degree in disaster relief health care

BMJ ◽  
2009 ◽  
pp. b3803
Author(s):  
James Coulston
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Disaster Relief ◽  
Masters Degree

Disasters and Women's Health: Reflections from the 2010 Earthquake in Haiti

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina M. Bloem ◽  
Andrew C. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Women’S Health ◽  
Women's Health ◽  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Disaster Relief ◽  
Patient Privacy ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Treatment Access ◽  
Humanitarian Emergency ◽  
Gender Based

AbstractIntroductionIncreasing attention is being focused on the needs of vulnerable populations during humanitarian emergency response. Vulnerable populations are those groups with increased susceptibility to poor health outcomes rendering them disproportionately affected by the event. This discussion focuses on women's health needs during the disaster relief effort after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.ReportThe Emergency Department (ED) of the temporary mobile encampment in L'Hôpital de l'Université d'Etat d'Haïti (HUEH) was the site of the team's disaster relief mission. In February 2010, most of the hospital was staffed by foreign physicians and nurses, with a high turnover rate. Although integration with local Haitian staff was encouraged, implementation of this practice was variable. Common presentations in the ED included infectious diseases, traumatic injuries, chronic disease exacerbations, and follow-up care of post-earthquake injuries and infections. Women-specific complaints included vaginal infections, breast pain or masses, and pregnancy-related concerns or complications. Women were also targets of gender-based violence.DiscussionRecent disasters in Haiti, Pakistan, and elsewhere have challenged the international health community to provide gender-balanced health care in suboptimal environments. Much room for improvement remains. Although the assessment team was gender-balanced, improved incorporation of Haitian personnel may have enhanced patient trust, and improved cultural sensitivity and communication. Camp geography should foster both patient privacy and security during sensitive examinations. This could have been improved upon by geographically separating men's and women's treatment areas and using a barrier screen to generate a more private examination environment. Women's health supplies must include an appropriate exam table, emergency obstetrical and midwifery supplies, urine dipsticks, and sanitary and reproductive health supplies. A referral system must be established for patients requiring a higher level of care. Lastly, improved inter-organization communication and promotion of resource pooling may improve treatment access and quality for select gender-based interventions.ConclusionSimple, inexpensive modifications to disaster relief health care settings can dramatically reduce barriers to care for vulnerable populations.BloemCM, MillerAC. Disasters and women's health: reflections from the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Prehosp Disaster Med.2013;28(2):1-5.

A Basic Course in Humanitarian Health Emergency and Relief: A Pilot Study from Saudi Arabia

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 580-587
Author(s):  
Nidaa A. Bajow ◽  
Yousef I. Alawad ◽  
Samer M. Aloraifi
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Disaster Relief ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Humanitarian Emergency ◽  
Basic Principles

AbstractBackground:Political unrest in the Middle East heightens the possibility of catastrophe due to violent conflict and/or terrorist attacks. However, the disaster risk reduction strategy in the Saudi health care system appears to be a reactive approach focused more on flood hazards than other threats. Given the current unstable political situation in its neighboring countries and Saudi Arabia’s key role in providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to those affected by internal conflicts and wars, it is essential to develop a framework for training standards related to complex humanitarian disasters to provide the requisite skills and knowledge in a gradual manner, according to local context and international standards. This framework could also support the World Health Organization’s (WHO; Geneva, Switzerland) initiative for establishing a national disaster assistance team in Saudi Arabia.Problem:The main aim of this study is to provide Saudi health care providers with a competencies-based course in Basic Principles of Complex Humanitarian Emergency.Methods:The interactive, competencies-based course in Basic Principles of Complex Humanitarian Emergency was designed by five experts in disaster medicine and humanitarian relief in three stages, accordance to international standards and the local context. The course was piloted over five days at the Officers Club of the Ministry of Interior (MOI; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia). The 33 participants were from different health disciplines of the government sectors in-country. The participants completed the pre- and post-tests and attended three pilot workshops for disaster community awareness.Results:The overall knowledge scores were significantly higher in the post-test (62.9%) than the pre-test (44.2%). There were no significant differences in the pre- and post-knowledge scores for health care providers from the different government health disciplines. A 10-month, post-event survey demonstrated that participants were satisfied with their knowledge retention. Importantly, three of them (16.6%) had the opportunity to put this knowledge into practice in relation to humanitarian aid response.Conclusion:Delivering a competencies-based course in Basic Principles of Complex Humanitarian Emergency for health care providers can help improve their knowledge and skills for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, which is crucial for disaster preparedness augmentation in Saudi Arabia.

Policy Development in Disaster Preparedness and Management: Lessons Learned from the January 2001 Earthquake in Gujarat, India

2003 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rannveig Bremer
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Disaster Relief ◽  
World Health ◽  
Disaster Victims ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
The World

AbstractIntroduction:During the last decades, several humanitarian emergencies have occurred, with an increasing number of humanitarian organizations taking part in providing assistance. However, need assessments, medical intelligence, and coordination of the aid often are sparse, resulting in the provision of ineffective and expensive assistance. When an earthquake with the strength of 7.7 on the Richter scale struck the state of Gujarat, India, during the early morning on 26 January 2001, nearly 20,000 persons were killed, nearly 170,000 were injured, and 600,000 were rendered homeless. This study identifies how assigned indicators to measure the level of health care may improve disaster preparedness and management, thus, reducing human suffering.Methods:During a two-week mission in the disaster area, the disaster relief provided to the disaster-affected population of Gujarat was evaluated. Vulnerability due to climate, geography, culture, religion, gender, politics, and economy, as each affected the outcome, was studied. By assigning indicators to the eight ELEMENTS of the Primary Health Care System as advocated by the World Health Organization (WHO), the level of public health and healthcare services were estimated, an evaluation of the impact of the disaster was conducted, and possible methods for improving disaster management are suggested. Representatives of the major relief organizations involved were interviewed on their relief policies. Strategies to improve disaster relief, such as policy development in the different aspects of public health/primary health care, were sought.Results:Evaluation of the pre-event status of the affected society revealed a complex situation in a vulnerable society with substantial deficiencies in the existing health system that added to the severity of the disaster. Most of the civilian hospitals had collapsed, and army field hospitals provided medical care to most of the patients under primitive conditions using tents. When the foreign field hospitals arrived 5 to 7 days after the earthquake, most of the casualties requiring surgical intervention already had been operated on. Relief provided to the disaster victims had reduced quality for the following reasons: (1) proper public health indicators had not yet been developed; (2) efficient coordination was lacking; (3) insufficient, overestimated, or partly irrelevant relief was provided; (4) relief was delayed because of bureaucracy; and (5) policies on the delivery of disaster relief had not been developed.Conclusion:To optimize the effectiveness of limited resources, disaster preparedness and the provision of feasible and necessary aid is of utmost importance. An appropriate, rapid, crisis intervention could be achieved by continual surveillance of the world's situation by a Relief Coordination Center. A panel of experts could evaluate and coordinate the international disaster responses and make use of stored emergency material and emergency teams. A successful disaster response will depend on accurate and relevant medical intelligence and socio-geographical mapping in advance of, during, and after the event(s) causing the disaster. More effective and feasible equipment coordinated with the relief provided by the rest of the world is necessary. If policies and agreements are developed as part of disaster preparedness, on international, bilateral, and national levels, disaster relief may be more relevant, less chaotic, and easier to estimate, thus, bringing improved relief to the disaster victims.

scholarly journals Health Care for Japan Disaster Relief Team Personnel following the 1999 Columbia Earthquake

2000 ◽  
Vol 15 (S2) ◽  
pp. S57-S57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazumasa Yoshinaga ◽  
Kazutoshi Kuboyama ◽  
Seishiro Marukawa ◽  
Manabu Kirita ◽  
Rumiko Sogabe
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Disaster Relief

What Kinds of Skills Are Necessary for Physicians Involved in International Disaster Response?

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 397-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norihito Noguchi ◽  
Satoshi Inoue ◽  
Chisato Shimanoe ◽  
Kaoru Shibayama ◽  
Hitomi Matsunaga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
Disaster Relief ◽  
Disaster Medicine ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Surgical Skills ◽  
Previous Experience ◽  
Training Experience ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Skill Scores

AbstractIntroductionPhysicians are key disaster responders in foreign medical teams (FMTs) that provide medical relief to affected people. However, few studies have examined the skills required for physicians in real, international, disaster-response situations.ProblemThe objectives of this study were to survey the primary skills required for physicians from a Japanese FMT and to examine whether there were differences in the frequencies of performed skills according to demographic characteristics, previous experience, and dispatch situations to guide future training and certification programs.MethodsThis cross-sectional survey used a self-administered questionnaire given to 64 physicians with international disaster-response site experience. The questionnaire assessed demographic characteristics (sex, age, years of experience as a physician, affiliation, and specialty), previous experience (domestic disaster-relief experience, international disaster-relief experience, or disaster medicine training experience), and dispatch situation (length of dispatch, post-disaster phase, disaster type, and place of dispatch). In addition, the frequencies of 42 performed skills were assessed via a five-point Likert scale. Descriptive statistics were used to assess the participants’ characteristics and total scores as the frequencies of performed skills. Mean scores for surgical skills, health care-related skills, public health skills, and management and coordination skills were compared according to the demographic characteristics, previous experience, and dispatch situations.ResultsFifty-two valid questionnaires (81.3% response rate) were collected. There was a trend toward higher skill scores among those who had more previous international disaster-relief experience (P=.03). The more disaster medicine training experience the participants had, the higher their skill score was (P<.001). Physicians reported involvement in 23 disaster-relief response skills, nine of which were performed frequently. There was a trend toward higher scores for surgical skills, health care-related skills, and management and coordination skills related to more disaster medicine training experience.ConclusionThis study’s findings can be used as evidence to boost the frequency of physicians’ performed skills by promoting previous experience with international disaster relief and disaster medicine training. Additionally, these results may contribute to enhancing the quality of medical practice in the international disaster relief and disaster training curricula.NoguchiN, InoueS, ShimanoeC, ShibayamaK, MatsunagaH, TanakaS, IshibashiA, ShinchiK. What kinds of skills are necessary for physicians involved in international disaster response?Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(4):397–406.

scholarly journals Disaster Relief following the Earthquake in Western India: Basic Health Care Activity with ERU Operated by the Japanese Red Cross Society

2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (S1) ◽  
pp. S19-S19
Author(s):  
Seishi Takamura ◽  
Akira Miyata ◽  
Sunao Asai ◽  
Wakako Takashima ◽  
Hidenobu Matsukane
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Disaster Relief ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Western India ◽  
Basic Health ◽  
Basic Health Care ◽  
Care Activity ◽  
Health Care Activity
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