Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T10:09:17.736Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Preparedness of Anesthesiologists Working in Humanitarian Disasters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2013

Bernhard Rössler ,
Peter Marhofer ,
Michael Hüpfl ,
Bernadette Peterhans  and
Karl Schebesta
Bernhard Rössler*
Affiliation:
Medical Simulation and Emergency Management Research Group, Department of Anesthesia, General Intensive Care and Pain Management, Medical University, Vienna, Austria Department of Anesthesia, General Intensive Care and Pain Management, Medical University, Vienna, Austria
Peter Marhofer
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesia, General Intensive Care and Pain Management, Medical University, Vienna, Austria
Michael Hüpfl
Affiliation:
Medical Simulation and Emergency Management Research Group, Department of Anesthesia, General Intensive Care and Pain Management, Medical University, Vienna, Austria Department of Anesthesia, General Intensive Care and Pain Management, Medical University, Vienna, Austria
Bernadette Peterhans
Affiliation:
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Karl Schebesta
Affiliation:
Medical Simulation and Emergency Management Research Group, Department of Anesthesia, General Intensive Care and Pain Management, Medical University, Vienna, Austria Department of Anesthesia, General Intensive Care and Pain Management, Medical University, Vienna, Austria
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Bernhard Rössler, MD, MIH, Department of Anesthesia, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Hospital Avenue, Nedlands 6009, WA, Australia (e-mail [email protected]).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective

Many skills needed to provide patients with safe, timely, and adequate anesthesia care during humanitarian crisis and disaster relief operations are not part of the daily routine before deployment. An exploratory study was conducted to identify preparedness, knowledge, and skills needed for deployment to complex emergencies.

Methods

Anesthesiologists who had been deployed during humanitarian crisis and disaster relief operations completed an online questionnaire assessing their preparedness, skills, and knowledge needed during deployment. Qualitative data were sorted by frequencies and similarities and clustered accordingly.

Results

Of 121 invitations sent out, 55 (46%) were completed and returned. Of these respondents, 24% did not feel sufficiently prepared for the deployment, and 69% did not undertake additional education for their missions. Insufficient preparedness involved equipment, drugs, regional anesthesia, and related management.

Conclusions

As the lack of preparation and relevant training can create precarious situations, anesthesiologists and deploying agencies should improve preparedness for anesthesia personnel. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2013;0;1–5)

Keywords

anesthesiaemergency servicedisastersinternational agenciesrelief work
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 7 , Issue 4 , August 2013 , pp. 408 - 412
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Kano, M, Wood, MM, Siegel, JM, Bourque, LB. Disaster research and epidemiology. In: Koenig KL, Schultz CH, eds. Disaster Medicine: Comprehensive Principles and Practices. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; 2010:3-20.Google Scholar
2.Salama, P, Spiegel, P, Talley, L, Waldman, R. Lessons learned from complex emergencies over past decade. Lancet. 2004;364:1801-1813.Google Scholar
3.McCunn, M, Ashburn, MA, Floyd, TF, etal. An organized, comprehensive, and security-enabled strategic response to the Haiti earthquake: a description of pre-deployment readiness preparation and preliminary experience from an academic anesthesiology department with no preexisting international disaster response program. Anesth Analg. 2010;111:1438-1444.Google Scholar
4.Missair, A, Gebhard, R, Pierre, E, etal. Surgery under extreme conditions in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake: the importance of regional anesthesia. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2010;25:487-493.Google Scholar
5.Paix, BR, Capps, R, Neumeister, G, Semple, T. Anesthesia in a disaster zone: a report on the experience of an Australian medical team in Banda Aceh following the Boxing Day tsunami. Anaesth Intensive Care. 2005;33:629-634.Google Scholar
6.Rice, MJ, Gwertzman, A, Finley, T, Morey, TE. Anesthetic practice in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. Anesth Analg. 2010;111:1445-1449.Google Scholar
7.Ursprung, T. Management of war injuries from the anesthesiologic point of view: a report of experiences from the IKRK hospital in Kabul, September 1990. Z Unfallchir Versicherungsmed. 1991;84:48-55.Google Scholar
8.Baker, DJ. The anaesthesiologist and natural disasters. Anesth Int. 2011;5:10-15.Google Scholar
9.Allcock, E, Spencer, E, Frazer, R, Applegate, G, Buckenmaier C, III. Continuous transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block catheters in a combat surgical environment. Pain Med. 2010;11:1426-1429.Google Scholar
10.Suzuki, T. The situation of anesthesia in Afghanistan. Masui. 2001;50:805-809.Google Scholar
11.Kaplowitz, MD, Hadlock, TD, Levine, R. A comparison of web and mail survey response rates. Public Opin Q. 2004;68:94-101.Google Scholar
12.Beydon, L, Ledenmat, PY, Soltner, C, etal. Adverse events with medical devices in anesthesia and intensive care unit patients recorded in the French safety database in 2005-2006. Anesthesiology. 2010;112:364-372.Google Scholar
13.Cooper, JB, Newbower, RS, Kitz, RJ. An analysis of major errors and equipment failures in anesthesia management: considerations for prevention and detection. Anesthesiology. 1984;60:34-42.Google Scholar
14.Orser, BA, Chen, RJB, Yee, DA. Medication errors in anesthetic practice: a survey of 687 practitioners. Can J Anaesth. 2001;48:139-146.Google Scholar
15.Orser, BA, Byrick, R. Anesthesia-related medication error: time to take action. Can J Anesth. 2004;51:756-760.Google Scholar
16.Gaba, DM. Anaesthesiology as a model for patient safety in health care. BMJ. 2000;320:785-788.Google Scholar
17.Mellin-Olsen, J, O'Sullivany, E, Baloghz, D, etal. Guidelines for safety and quality in anesthesia practice in the European Union. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2007;24:479-482.Google Scholar
18.Merry, AF, Cooper, JB, Soyannwo, O, Wilson, IH, Eichhorn, JH. International standards for a safe practice of anesthesia 2010. Can J Anaesth. 2010;57:1027-1034.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19.Giannou, C, Baldan, M. Anesthesia and analgesia in war surgery. In: Giannou C, Baldan M, eds. War Surgery. Geneva, Switzerland: International Committee of the Red Cross Publications; 2009:309-317.Google Scholar
20.Marhofer, P, Harrop-Griffiths, W, Kettner, SC, Kirchmair, L. Fifteen years of ultrasound guidance in regional anesthesia: part 1. Br J Anaesth. 2010;104:538-546.Google Scholar
21.du Mortier, S, Arpagaus, M. Quality improvement programme on the frontline: an International Committee of the Red Cross experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Int J Qual Health Care. 2005;17:293-300.Google Scholar
22.Rahardjo, E, Wiroatmodjo, K, Koeshartono, P. Toward more efficient multinational work on rescue and aid for disasters: lessons learned during the Aceh tsunami and Yogya earthquake. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2008;23:301-304.Google Scholar
23.Ginosar, Y, Shapira, SC. The role of an anaesthesiologist in a field hospital during the cholera epidemic among Rwandan refugees in Goma. Br J Anaesth. 1995;75:810-816.Google Scholar