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Radiology on Board the PLA(N) Peace Ark Hospital Ship During a Humanitarian Medical Relief Mission to the Philippines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2015

Ai-Jun Ren ,
Tao Sun ,
Hai-Wei Wang ,
He-Quan Ge  and
Hong-Jun Ye
Ai-Jun Ren*
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Navy General Hospital, Beijing, China
Tao Sun
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Navy General Hospital, Beijing, China
Hai-Wei Wang
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Navy General Hospital, Beijing, China
He-Quan Ge
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Navy General Hospital, Beijing, China
Hong-Jun Ye
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Navy General Hospital, Beijing, China
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Ai-Jun Ren, Department of Radiology, Navy General Hospital, Beijing, 100048 China (e-mail: nrren@yahoo.com).
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Abstract

Objective

From November 24 to December 10, 2013, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy [PLA(N)] hospital ship Peace Ark was deployed to the Leyte Gulf in the Philippines to provide humanitarian medical relief in Tacloban after Typhoon Haiyan. The purpose of this study was to assess the radiological services aboard the ship to provide guidance for future missions.

Methods

A retrospective review was performed on a cohort of 109 patients who underwent digital radiography (DR) and 59 patients who underwent computed tomography (CT) scans during a 16-day period during a humanitarian medical relief mission to the Philippines. Patient demographics, DR findings, and CT findings were analyzed.

Results

The mean age of the 109 DR patients was 39.7 years for the 64 males and 43.7 years for the 45 females. A total of 148 DR examinations were performed of the chest (n=109), extremities (n=35), and spine (n=4). The mean age of the 59 CT patients was 43.8 years for the 32 males and 49.1 years for the 27 females. A total of 72 CT scans were performed of the head and neck (n=36), thorax (n=24), abdomen (n=5), spine (n=4), and extremities (n=3). The imaging findings mainly included disaster-related and non-disaster-related fractures, pulmonary tuberculosis, pulmonary infection, acute brain infarction, intracranial hematoma, and occupying lesions.

Conclusion

Analysis of radiological services during a humanitarian medical relief mission to the Philippines provided meaningful information for future humanitarian medical relief missions. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:16–19)

Keywords

relief worktropical storminternational cooperationhospital shipnatural disasters
Type
Brief Reports
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , February 2016 , pp. 16 - 19
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2015 

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