American journal of disaster medicine
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To describe, innovate, recommend, and foster the implementation of point-of-care (POC) testing in disaster caches to enhance crisis standards of care and to improve triage, diagnosis, monitoring, treatment, and management of victims and volunteers in complex emergencies and disasters. ⋯ Innovations in POC technologies can improve response preparedness with enhanced diagnostic capabilities. Several innovations, such as the i-STAT® Wireless, OraQuick ADVANCE® HIV-1/2, VereTrop™ Lab-on-a-Chip, and new compact hematology analyzers will improve test clusters that facilitate evidence-based decision making and crisis standards of care during US national disaster responses. Additionally, strategic resources and operator training should be globally harmonized to improve the efficiency of international responses.
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Syrian revolution that began on March 15, 2011 represents not only a political crisis but also a humanitarian one where many relief attempts for saving civil injured were tried. ⋯ Setting up a field hospital in such an area with unsafe conditions needs good communication with medical and relief organizations in the site of crisis, selection of a location as near as possible to the Turkish border, developing a convenient triaging plan, and training nonmedical volunteers to do simple tasks.
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The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act calls for establishing a competency-based training program to train public health practitioners. To inform such training, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Association of Schools of Public Health managed groups of experts to produce a competency model which could function as a national standard of behaviorally based, observable skills for the public health workforce to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from all hazards. ⋯ Practitioners and academics have adopted the Public Health Preparedness and Response Core Competency Model, some of whom have formed workgroups to develop curricula based on the model. Efforts will be needed to develop evaluation materials for training and education programs to refine the model as well as for future training and education initiatives.
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With increasing population displacement and worsening water insecurity after the 2010 earthquake, Haiti experienced a large cholera outbreak. Our goal was to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of seven community health facilities' ability to respond to a surge in cholera cases. Since 2010, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) with a number of public and private donors has been working with seven health facilities in an effort to reduce morbidity and mortality from cholera infection. ⋯ A total of 119 hospital staff from seven sites participated in the simulation exercise including community health workers, clinicians, managers, pharmacists, cleaners, and security guards. Clinics that had challenges during the simulated clinical care of patients were those that did not appropriately treat all cholera patients according to protocol, particularly those that were vulnerable, those that would need additional staff to properly treat patients during a surge of cholera, and those that required a better inventory of supplies. Simulation-based activities have the potential to identify healthcare delivery system vulnerabilities that are amenable to intervention prior to a cholera surge.
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The European Union (EU) Mass Casualties and Health (MASH) project that ran between 2008 and 2010 was designed to study the management of mass casualties from chemical and radiological releases and associated health implications. One area of study for this project concerned arrangements within EU Member States for the management of mass casualties following a chemical release. This was undertaken via a confidential online questionnaire that was sent to selected points of contact throughout the EU. ⋯ Improvements in awareness and training and the application of modern information and communications will help to remedy this situation. Specialized advanced life support and other medical care for chemical casualties appear lacking in some countries. A program of specialized training and action are required to apply the findings revealed by the MASH study into a unified cross-border emergency medical response.