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Review of the Senegalese Military Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Deployment Following a Tanker Explosion in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2022

Rashidatu Fouad Kamara Open the ORCID record for Rashidatu Fouad Kamara [Opens in a new window] ,
Boniface Oyugi Open the ORCID record for Boniface Oyugi [Opens in a new window] ,
Ibrahim Franklyn Kamara Open the ORCID record for Ibrahim Franklyn Kamara [Opens in a new window] ,
Mustapha Kabba ,
Pryanka Relan Open the ORCID record for Pryanka Relan [Opens in a new window]  and
Thierno Baldé
Rashidatu Fouad Kamara
Affiliation:
World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Emergency Preparedness and Response Program, Brazzaville, Congo Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain
Boniface Oyugi
Affiliation:
World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Emergency Preparedness and Response Program, Brazzaville, Congo Centre for Health Services Studies (CHSS), University of Kent, George Allen Wing, Canterbury, United Kingdom
Ibrahim Franklyn Kamara
Affiliation:
Sierra Leone World Health Organization Country Office, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Mustapha Kabba
Affiliation:
Sierra Leone Ministry of Health, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Pryanka Relan
Affiliation:
World Health Organization, Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland
Thierno Baldé
Affiliation:
World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Emergency Preparedness and Response Program, Brazzaville, Congo
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Abstract

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Background/Introduction:

In November 2021, a tanker exploded in Freetown, injuring and killing people. The WHO facilitated a seven-week first deployment of the Senegalese military to support the Ministry of Health (MOH) in providing care to the wounded in three referral hospitals.

Objectives:

Review the deployed team’s processes and outputs of medical care provided to burns patients.

Method/Description:

This is a cross-sectional After-Action Review (AAR) debrief of the deployment, including the WHO and MOH staff (n =14) in a virtual workshop. Six thematic areas: mobilization, deployment, coordination, case management activities, national capacity, and community acceptance were analyzed.

Results/Outcomes:

The WHO facilitated the team’s deployment and mobilized medical supplies and equipment whilst the MOH provided accommodation and logistics through collaboration. The team dispensed their functions with professionalism, adapted to the environment and available resources, and augmented the care provided by the available health workers. They offered additional care: reconstructive surgery, pain management, palliative and wound care, rehabilitation, physiotherapy, and psychosocial counselling, which were initially inadequate. 87 out of 155 patients were discharged home at the end, the national clinicians acquired additional skills, and the community appreciated the team. Despite being perceived as a weakness, the language barrier did not hinder the patient-doctor/nurse relationship or the provision of clinical care.

Conclusion:

This sub-regional response had significant benefits, including speed, political acceptability, and health context experience to support rapid and safe deployment. Mechanisms to facilitate rapid and quality-assured deployment of EMTs at regional and sub-regional levels in collaboration with WHO should be strengthened in region to support future responses.

Type
Meeting Abstracts
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 37 , Supplement S2: Abstracts of World Health Organization Emergency Medical Teams Global Meeting 2022 , November 2022 , pp. s84
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine