title: Haiti: The South African perspective.
abstract: BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM STATEMENT: The South African response to the Haitian earthquake consisted of two independent non-government organisations (NGOs) working separately with minimal contact. Both teams experienced problems during the deployment, mainly owing to not following the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) guidelines.
  To improve future South African disaster responses, three functional deployment categories were identified: urban search and rescue, triage and initial stabilisation, and definitive care. To best achieve this, four critical components need to be taken into account: rapid deployment, intelligence from the site, government facilitation, and working under the auspices of recognised organisations such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The proposed way forward for South African medical teams responding to disasters is to be unified under a leading academic body, to have an up-to-date volunteer database, and for volunteers to be current with the international search and rescue course currently being developed by the Medical Working Group of INSARAG. An additional consideration is that South African rescue and relief personnel have a primary responsibility to the citizens of South Africa, then the Southern African Development Community region, then the rest of the African continent and finally further afield. The commitment of government, private and military health services as well as NGOs is paramount for a unified response.
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, W Cape. nvhoving@gmail.com
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: van Hoving
authors.forename: Wayne P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Efraim B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Shaheem
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de Vries
authors.forename: Fathima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Docrat
authors.forename: Lee A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Wallis
mesh_terms: D004189:Disaster Planning; D055866:Earthquakes; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D006205:Haiti; D012066:Relief Work / Q000458:organization & administration; D013019:South Africa