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Evaluation of Emergency Medical Team Coordination Following the 2015 Nepal Earthquake

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2020

Yosuke Takada Open the ORCID record for Yosuke Takada [Opens in a new window] ,
Yasuhiro Otomo  and
Khem Bahadur Karki
Yosuke Takada*
Affiliation:
Department of Disaster Medicine and Management, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama City, Okayama, Japan
Yasuhiro Otomo
Affiliation:
Department of Acute Critical Care and Disaster Medicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
Khem Bahadur Karki
Affiliation:
Department of Community Medicine, Maharajgunj Medical Campus, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Yosuke Takada, Department of Disaster Medicine and Management, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho Kita-ku Okayama City, Okayama7008558Japan (e-mail: [email protected]).
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Abstract

Objectives:

After the Nepal earthquake in 2015, for the first time, the Emergency Medical Team Coordination Cell (EMTCC) was activated. This study aims to evaluate the emergency medical team (EMT) coordination in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake in 2015.

Methods:

This is a retrospective study that (a) describes the coordination process in Nepal, and (b) reviews and analyzes the EMT database in Nepal to classify the EMTs based on the World Health Organization (WHO) EMT classification, an online survey for EMT coordination, and the Geographic Information System-analyzed EMT distribution.

Results:

We recorded 150 EMTs, which included 29 Type 1-Mobile, 71 Type 1-Fixed, 22 Type 2, 1 Type 3, and 27 specialist cell recorded EMTs including the military team. The EMTs were allocated based on the number of casualties in that area. The Type 1 EMTs were deployed around Type 2 EMTs.

Conclusions:

The EMT Classification is useful for the effective posting of EMTs. However, the method of onsite multi registration has room for improvement. The WHO should provide an opportunity for EMTCC training for better coordination of disasters.

Keywords

emergency medical teamcoordinationNepal earthquake
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , June 2021 , pp. 308 - 315
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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References

REFERENCES

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