American journal of disaster medicine
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On January 12, 2010, one of the most destructive earthquakes in history struck the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. This study aims to characterize the impact of the earthquake and humanitarian response on well being of the affected households as means of evaluating the effectiveness of response efforts. ⋯ The immediate impacts of injury and mortality had marginal influences on long-term household economic security, whereas displacement into camps was stongly associated with negative outcomes for income, employment, and food access.
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The provision of critical care in any environment is resource intensive. However, the provision of critical care in an austere environment/mass disaster zone is particularly challenging. ⋯ Based primarily on our experiences at a field hospital in Haiti, we created a short guide to critical care in a mass disaster in an austere environment. This guide will be useful to the team of physicians, nurses, respiratory care, logistics, and other support personnel who volunteer in future critical care relief efforts in limited resource settings.
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Little is known about the capacity and activity of emergency medical services (EMS) during large-scale disasters. This article provides a case study of the role of EMS in one large urban city during a major hurricane. ⋯ A strategy for managing surges in prehospital care from major disasters is a requirement for modern EMS.
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To describe humanitarian aid following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. ⋯ Following major disasters, even highly modernized countries will face an urgent surge in the need of medical resources. These situations emphasize the need for global responsibility to provide assistance.
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In the event of a catastrophic disaster, healthcare resources may be completely overwhelmed. To address this, the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has recommended using "crisis standards of care"during such an event. These standards would recommend allocating scarce medical resources to do the greatest good for the greatest number of patients. ⋯ In extreme circumstances, these protocols recommend withdrawing ICU resources from sicker patients in favor of more salvageable patients. However, if providers were to follow the earlier protocols in a disaster and withdraw and reallocate ICU care, criminal or civil liability could result. Two legal solutions to avoid this potential for liability have been suggested in this article.