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Disaster Preparedness for Clinics – Further Study from Haiti

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2020

Benjamin Kaufman Open the ORCID record for Benjamin Kaufman [Opens in a new window] ,
Sadia Hussain ,
Matthew Riscinti ,
Christina Bloem  and
Bonnie Arquilla
Benjamin Kaufman*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New YorkUSA
Sadia Hussain
Affiliation:
Department of Critical Care Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center, Bethesda, MarylandUSA
Matthew Riscinti
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New YorkUSA
Christina Bloem
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New YorkUSA
Bonnie Arquilla
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New YorkUSA
*
Correspondence: Benjamin Kaufman, MD, 19 Commerce Street, Apt 8, New York, New York10014USA, E-mail: benjoneskaufman@gmail.com
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Abstract

Objective:

This team created a manual to train clinics in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to effectively respond to disasters. This study is a follow-up to a prior study evaluating disaster response. The team returned to previously trained clinics to evaluate retention and performance in a disaster simulation.

Background:

Local clinics are the first stop for patients when disaster strikes LMICs. They are often under-resourced and under-prepared to respond to patient needs. Further effort is required to prepare these crucial institutions to respond effectively using the Incident Command System (ICS) framework.

Methods:

Two clinics in the North East Region of Haiti were trained through a disaster manual created to help clinics in LMICs respond effectively to disasters. This study measured the clinic staff’s response to a disaster drill using the ICS and compared the results to prior responses.

Results:

Using the prior study’s evaluation scale, clinics were evaluated on their ability to set up an ICS. During the mock disaster, staff was evaluated on a three-point scale in 13 different metrics, grading their ability to mitigate, prepare, respond, and recover in a disaster. By this scale, both clinics were effective (36/39; 92%) in responding to a disaster.

Conclusion:

The clinics retained much prior training, and after repeat training, the clinics improved their disaster response. Future study will evaluate the clinics’ ability to integrate disaster response with country-wide health resources to enable an effective outcome for patients.

Keywords

disaster responseIncident Command Systeminternational emergency
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , April 2020 , pp. 170 - 173
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2020

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References

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