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Disaster Medicine: Preparedness and Response
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Disaster Medicine: Preparedness and Response

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2019) | Viewed by 27748

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Elhanan Bar-On

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Israel Center for Disaster Medicine and Humanitarian Response, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Israel
Interests: trauma; orthopedics; disaster medicine; humanitarian response

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The occurrence of natural disasters has shown a significant rise in the last decades. Between 2005 and 2014, 1.7 billion people were affected and 700,000 were killed in natural disasters. In addition, a similar number of people have been affected by violent conflicts. Most of those affected are in low and middle-income countries. These events pose intense challenges to the medical community both in the clinical and the public health domain. The needs are immense due to the effects of disasters causing a large number of injuries and diseases as well as a breakdown of the general and medical infrastructure. The local medical system, which is often at a low baseline level, is further affected and the result is a huge imbalance between medical needs and the capability to fulfil these needs. International humanitarian aid is usually provided by the international community including UN agencies, governments and many non-governmental organizations. However, the immense needs and the austere environment in which these teams operate pose unique challenges to the local and international health community delivering treatment to the victims and attempting to improve the public health system, and many of those who may be required to deliver care during a disaster either in their homeland or overseas, have little prior experience in operating under these unique circumstances.

It is with this in mind that IJERPH has decided to devote this issue to “Disaster Medicine”.

Submissions are welcome dealing with all aspects of disaster medicine, including:

  1. Needs in different natural disaster and conflict scenarios.
  2. Adaption of medical care to disaster scenarios and austere environments
  3. Public health needs and response following disasters.
  4. Organization of the medical system following disasters.
  5. International collaboration in medical aid following disasters.
  6. Legal and ethical issues in medical care delivery following disasters and conflicts.

Prof. Elhanan Bar-On
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Disaster Medicine
  • Humanitarian Medical Response
  • Field Hospitals
  • Public Health in Disasters

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 726 KiB  
Article
Confidence in Health-Services Availability during Disasters and Emergency Situations—Does it Matter?—Lessons Learned from an Israeli Population Survey
by Odeya Cohen, Stav Shapira, Limor Aharonson-Daniel and Judith Shamian
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(19), 3519; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph16193519 - 20 Sep 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2385
Abstract
The association between health and community resilience is well established in the literature. However, maintaining continuity of healthcare services during emergencies, and their contribution in the context of community resiliency have not been sufficiently studied. This study aims to explore the relationship between [...] Read more.
The association between health and community resilience is well established in the literature. However, maintaining continuity of healthcare services during emergencies, and their contribution in the context of community resiliency have not been sufficiently studied. This study aims to explore the relationship between the public’s confidence in the availability of healthcare services during and following emergencies, and community resilience. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 3478 Israeli adults, using the Conjoint Community Resilience Assessment Measurement (CCRAM) tool. Associations between confidence in health services availability during emergencies, socio-demographic variables, and community resilience as measured by the CCRAM score were analyzed. The results revealed that confidence in the availability of health services positively correlated with community resilience score (r(3377) = 0.580, p < 0.001), and that it contributed significantly to increasing resilience (OR = 2.67, 95% CI (2.4–2.9), p < 0.001). Maintaining continuity of healthcare services during emergencies has effects beyond the provision of medical treatment. For instance, the confidence of the population in the availability of these services contributes to community resilience. In turn, this finding can be translated into practical resilience building actions and to facilitate community health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Medicine: Preparedness and Response)
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18 pages, 1261 KiB  
Article
Retrospective Analysis of Injuries and Hospitalizations of Patients Following the 2009 Earthquake of L’Aquila City
by Jacopo Del Papa, Pierpaolo Vittorini, Francesco D’Aloisio, Mario Muselli, Anna Rita Giuliani, Alfonso Mascitelli and Leila Fabiani
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(10), 1675; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph16101675 - 14 May 2019
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2369
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the injury patterns and the hospitalizations of patients who were admitted to hospital following the 2009 earthquake in the city of L’Aquila, Central Italy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to investigate the injury patterns and the hospitalizations of patients who were admitted to hospital following the 2009 earthquake in the city of L’Aquila, Central Italy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the patterns of earthquake-related injuries in Italy. We reviewed the hospital discharge data of 171 patients admitted to hospital within the following 96 h from the mainshock. This is an observational and descriptive study: We controlled for variables such as patient demographics, primary and secondary ICD-9-CM (International Classification of Diseases) diagnosis codes in order to identify the multiple injured patients, main type of injury that resulted in the hospital admission, discharge disposition, and average length of stay (LOS). Seventy-three percent of the 171 patients were admitted to hospital on the first day. Multiple injuries accounted for 52% of all trauma admissions, with a female to male ratio of 63% versus 37%. The most common type of injuries involved bone fractures (46.8%), while lower extremities were the most frequently affected sites (38.75%). The average LOS was 12.11 days. This study allows the evaluation of the impact of earthquake-related injuries in relation both to the health needs of the victims and to the use of the health care resources and assistance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Medicine: Preparedness and Response)
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12 pages, 684 KiB  
Article
Impact of Stressful Events on Motivations, Self-Efficacy, and Development of Post-Traumatic Symptoms among Youth Volunteers in Emergency Medical Services
by Eleni Roditi, Moran Bodas, Eli Jaffe, Haim Y. Knobler and Bruria Adini
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(9), 1613; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph16091613 - 08 May 2019
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3839
Abstract
During the last decades, Israeli emergency medical services (EMS) personnel has been exposed to different potentially traumatic events, including mass terror attacks. The aims of the present study were to identify how potentially traumatic events affect young volunteers in their motivation to volunteer [...] Read more.
During the last decades, Israeli emergency medical services (EMS) personnel has been exposed to different potentially traumatic events, including mass terror attacks. The aims of the present study were to identify how potentially traumatic events affect young volunteers in their motivation to volunteer and their perceived self-efficacy while being at risk of developing post-traumatic symptoms. The final sample included 236 Magen David Adom (MDA, the "Israeli Red Cross") youth volunteers. The study evaluated their motivational factors for volunteering, perceived self-efficacy, participation in potentially traumatic events, and post-traumatic symptoms. Over two-thirds of the volunteers participated in a traumatic event on duty. Volunteers who were involved in potentially stressful events scored higher levels of post-traumatic symptoms, though still very low and subclinical. Nonetheless, participating in stressful events contributed to an increased sense of self-efficacy. No difference in post-traumatic symptom levels was observed between volunteers who partook in mass casualty incidents and those who did not. The results demonstrate that MDA youth volunteers may mostly benefit from participating in situations requiring the administration of emergency medicine, even stressful ones. They may help to find ways to empower the volunteers and increase their resilience. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Medicine: Preparedness and Response)
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23 pages, 6393 KiB  
Article
Primary Health Care Center (PHCC) Location-Allocation with Multi-Objective Modelling: A Case Study in Idleb, Syria
by Pınar Miç, Melik Koyuncu and Jamil Hallak
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(5), 811; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph16050811 - 06 Mar 2019
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5651
Abstract
The Syrian crisis began on 15 March 2011. It is one of the bloodiest and complicated conflicts in the world today. Although almost eight years have passed over this tragedy, civilians continue to suffer from conflicts and destructions in the area. As a [...] Read more.
The Syrian crisis began on 15 March 2011. It is one of the bloodiest and complicated conflicts in the world today. Although almost eight years have passed over this tragedy, civilians continue to suffer from conflicts and destructions in the area. As a result, this situation disregards human life and the number of people in need increases day by day. Particularly, people who have to live in the conflict area encounter troubles with regard to health, shelter, food and other needs. Thus, we have focused on identifying the Primary Health Care Center (PHCC) locations within Idleb Governorate in Syria. Data is extracted from a sample containing 23 sub-districts in the governorate and a total of 338 communities. We have formulated a mixed integer-weighted goal programming model and combined it with a Geographic Information System-GIS (ArcMap). The model is solved via an optimization package and moreover, sensitivity analyses are conducted to achieve a more in-depth study. Our aim was to have 60 PHCCs out of 77 available candidate PHCCs and the model located 42 PHCCs in total, by allocating 379,080 people, with a total cost of USD 1,000,353 and a cash for work amounting to USD 163,549. Accordingly, the model’s outputs and sensitivity analyses are expected to help decision-makers in case of such disasters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Medicine: Preparedness and Response)
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Review

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11 pages, 447 KiB  
Review
The Power of Radio to Promote Health and Resilience in Natural Disasters: A Review
by Karin Hugelius, Mike Adams and Eila Romo-Murphy
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(14), 2526; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph16142526 - 15 Jul 2019
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5490
Abstract
Humanitarian radio has been used in humanitarian aid efforts and after natural disasters over the last 15 years. However, the effects have barely been evaluated, and there are few scientific reports on the impact of radio as a disaster health response intervention. Therefore, [...] Read more.
Humanitarian radio has been used in humanitarian aid efforts and after natural disasters over the last 15 years. However, the effects have barely been evaluated, and there are few scientific reports on the impact of radio as a disaster health response intervention. Therefore, this study aimed to provide an overview of the use and impact of humanitarian radio in natural disasters from a health perspective. A literature review of 13 scientific papers and grey literature resources was conducted. The results show that humanitarian radio could be used to promote both physical and psychosocial wellbeing by providing health-related information, advice and psychosocial support in natural disasters. Community resilience can be enhanced by the promotion of community engagement and can strengthen self-efficacy and community efficacy. Radio also has the potential to cost-effectively reach a large number of affected people in areas with severely damaged infrastructure. Radio could, therefore, contribute to health recovery and wellbeing from both individual and community perspectives. As such, health professionals; crises communication professionals, including radio journalists; and disaster-managing stakeholders should be prepared and trained to use humanitarian radio as an integrated part of the disaster health response in natural disasters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Medicine: Preparedness and Response)
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Other

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8 pages, 293 KiB  
Brief Report
Challenges in Implementing Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in Poland
by Krzysztof Goniewicz and Frederick M. Burkle, Jr.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(14), 2574; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph16142574 - 18 Jul 2019
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 7444
Abstract
Currently, weather conditions and extreme weather are becoming more frequent and more intense. Along with climate change, the vulnerability of society and individual regions to the risk of various types of threats also increases. The objectives of “The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk [...] Read more.
Currently, weather conditions and extreme weather are becoming more frequent and more intense. Along with climate change, the vulnerability of society and individual regions to the risk of various types of threats also increases. The objectives of “The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030”, are the first global political frameworks of the United Nations program designed for the period post-2015. The original priority objectives of the Framework are: Understanding disaster risk, strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk, investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience, and enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response, and to “Build Back Better” in recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction. The provisions contained in the document are an essential step towards building global political coherence with an apparent reference to health, development, and climate change. The article is briefly reporting current Disaster Risk Reduction related programs and policies in Poland, contributions as part of The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction implementation, and its challenges. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Medicine: Preparedness and Response)
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