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The role of rehabilitation professionals in responding to Sudden Onset Disasters (SODs) is evolving rapidly, and our professions increasingly find themselves at the forefront of emergency response teams. At the same time, there is a movement towards the professionalisation of the humanitarian response sector, in particular Emergency Medical Teams, and a recognition that specialist training is required to prepare professionals for work in an austere humanitarian environment. The intended audience of the manual are physiotherapists and occupational therapists who may deploy to provide rehabilitation in the immediate aftermath of a sudden onset disaster. It was developed to support volunteers on the UK International Emergency Trauma Register (UKIETR), but with the aim of being relevant to all rehabilitation professionals interested in rapid deployment to austere environments. The content is restricted to the context of sudden onset disasters such as an earthquake or tsunami, and has been developed to support work in an austere environment, where the type of equipment and support that is normally available has been disrupted. UKIETR professionals are UK based volunteers who receive specialist training to prepare them for international deployment as part of team in response to emergencies. They may be deployed within a multi-disciplinary foreign medical team in a field hospital scenario, or as part of a more specialist ‘cell’ offering niche medical, surgical or rehabilitation services. The manual is designed to complement the three day core rehabilitation training run by Handicap International which all UKIETR members must attend. It is a clinical manual, and the contents are directly linked to modules taught on the core training course. In addition there are a number of ‘cheat sheets’ and patient education resources at the back of the manual which are designed to be used in the field. Chapters include: rehabilitation and the UKIETR; introduction to rehabilitation following sudden onset disasters; amputee rehabilitation; spinal cord injury; peripheral nerve injury; fractures; burns and soft tissue injury; and acquired brain injury

This report presents a review of the evidence base of public health interventions in humanitarian crises by assessing the quantity and quality of intervention studies, rather than measuring the actual effectiveness of the intervention itself.  It notes an increase in quality and volume of evidence on health interventions in humanitarian crises and recognises that evidence remains too limited, particularly for gender-based violence (GBV) and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). This report identifies a number of common needs across all areas, namely more evidence for the effectiveness of systems and delivery, better developed research methods, and more evidence on dispersed, urban and rural populations, on ensuring continuity of care and measuring and addressing health care needs in middle-income settings (particularly NCDs)

Note: Use links on the left hand side of the webpage to access either the full report, the executive summary, or the individual chapters arranged by health topic

Natural disasters result in significant numbers of disabling impairments. Paradoxically, however, the traditional health system response to natural disasters largely neglects health-related rehabilitation as a strategic intervention. The objective was to examine the role of health-related rehabilitation in natural disaster relief along three lines of inquiry: (1) epidemiology of injury and disability, (2) impact on health and rehabilitation systems, and (3) the assessment and measurement of disability. A qualitative literature review and secondary data analysis were carried out. 

Global Health Action

http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/gha.v4i0.7191