(P1-66) Operating a Field Hospital after the Earthquake at Haiti - The Israeli Experience

Abstract

Introduction

On January 12th 2010 an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude struck Haiti. The region suffered an estimated 230,000 fatalities with approximately 250,000 injured and more than one million people who lost their houses. The government of Israel dispatched a military task force consisting of 230 people. 121 of them were medical personnel from the IDF Medical Corps. The force's primary mission was to establish a field hospital in Haiti and to give medical support to as many people as possible. We left Israel about 50 hours after the Earthquake and the field hospital started operating at Porte-Au-Prince 89 hours after the earthquake.

Materials and Methods

During our 10 days of operating, 1111 patients were treated at our hospital. 363 of them were pediatric patients (younger than 18 years). 272 pediatric patients were treated by the pediatric division, 79 (29%) were hospitalized and 57 (21%) required surgery.

Results

There were 16 deliveries, 5 Neonates, 244 Operations and 17 Intra-hospital deaths. We noticed a change of pattern of the hospital activity, regarding the cause of the admission after the sixth day. On the ninth day most of the patients who came to our hospital were due to a non-traumatic cause. At the pediatric department, the common treatments included wound debridement and dressing, I.V. rehydration and antibiotic treatment, and a neonatal unit, the sole one in the inflicted area. Operations when needed were done by the orthopedic team and the pediatric surgeon.

Conclusions

Operating a field hospital for a population inflicted by natural disaster is a complex mission and since pediatric care has its own unique, challenging characteristics, operating a pediatric division in such a field hospital is a continuous challenge, which includes preparedness in uncertainty and the necessity to have dynamic treatment strategy according to the unique circumstances.