title: International medical response to a natural disaster: lessons learned from the Bam earthquake experience.
abstract: An earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale devastated Bam, Iran on the morning of 26 December 2003. Due to the great health demands and collapse of health facilities, international aid could have been a great resource in the area. Despite sufficient amounts and types of resources provided by international teams, the efficacy of international assistance was not supported in Bam, as has been experienced in similar events in other countries. Based on the observations in the region and collecting and analyzing documents about the disaster, this manuscript provides an overview of the medical needs during the disaster and describes the international medical response. The lessons learned include: (1) necessity of developing a national search and rescue strategy; (2) designing an alarm system; (3) establishing an international incident command system; (4) increasing the efficacy of the arrival and implementation of a foreign field hospital; and (5) developing a flowchart for deploying international assistance.
authors.affiliation: Baqiyatallah Research Center, Baqiyatallah Hospital, Baqiyatallah Medical Sciences University, Mollasadra, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abolghasemi
authors.forename: Mohammad Hadi
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Radfar
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khatami
authors.forename: Masoud Saghafi
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Nia
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amid
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Briggs
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004190:Disasters; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D007492:Iran; D012066:Relief Work