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Response of Thai Hospitals to the Tsunami Disaster

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Adi Leiba ,
Issac Ashkenasi ,
Guy Nakash ,
Rami Pelts ,
Dagan Schwartz ,
Avishay Goldberg ,
Brig. Gen. Yeheskel Levi  and
Yaron Bar-Dayan
Adi Leiba
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Home Front Command
Issac Ashkenasi
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel IDF Medical Corps IDF Medical Corps, Surgeon General Headquarters
Guy Nakash
Affiliation:
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Home Front Command
Rami Pelts
Affiliation:
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Home Front Command
Dagan Schwartz
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Avishay Goldberg
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Brig. Gen. Yeheskel Levi
Affiliation:
IDF Medical Corps, Surgeon General Headquarters
Yaron Bar-Dayan*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Home Front Command
*
Col. Dr. Y. Bar-Dayan MD, MHA Chief Medical Officer, IDF Home Front Command, 16 Dolev st. Neve Savion, Or-Yehuda, ISRAEL Email: bardayan@netvision.net.il
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Abstract

The disaster caused by the Tsunami of 26 December 2004 was one of the worst that medical systems have faced. The aim of this study was to learn about the medical response of the Thai hospitals to this disaster and to establish guidelines that will help hospitals prepare for future disasters.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Home Front Command (HFC) Medical Department sent a research delegation to Thai hospitals to study: (1) pre-event hospital preparedness; (2) patient evacuation and triage; (3) personnel and equipment reinforcement; (4) modes used for alarm and recruitment of hospital personnel; (5) internal reorganization of hospitals; and (6) admission, discharge, and secondary transfer (forward management) of patients.

Thai hospitals were prepared for and drilled for a general mass casualty incident (MCI) involving up to 50 casualties. However, a control system to measure the success of these drills was not identified, and Thai hospitals were not prepared to deal with the unique aspects of a tsunami or to receive thousands of victims.

Modes of operation differed between provinces. In Phang Nga and Krabi, many patients were treated in the field. In Phuket, most patients were evacuated early to secondary (district) and tertiary (provincial) hospitals. Hospitals recalled staff rapidly and organized the emergency department for patient triage, treatment, and transfer if needed.

Although preparedness was deficient, hospital systems performed well. Disaster management should focus on field-based first aid and triage, and rapid evacuation to secondary hospitals. Additionally, disaster management should reinforce and rely on the existing and well-trusted medical system.

Keywords

hospitalpreparednessThailandTsunami
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 21 , supplement S1: Health Aspects of the 2004 Southeast Asia Earthquake and Tsunami , February 2006 , pp. S32 - S37
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2006

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