title: Post-earthquake injuries treated at a field hospital --- Haiti, 2010.
abstract: On January 12, 2010, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, resulting in an estimated 222,570 deaths and 300,000 persons with injuries. The University of Miami Global Institute/Project Medishare (UMGI/PM) established the first field hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after the earthquake. To characterize injuries and surgical procedures performed by UMGI/PM and assess specialized medical, surgical, and rehabilitation needs, UMGI/PM and CDC conducted a retrospective medical record review of all available inpatient records for the period January 13-May 28, 2010. This report describes the results of that review, which indicated that, during the study period (when a total of 1,369 admissions occurred), injury-related diagnoses were recorded for 581 (42%) admitted patients, of whom 346 (60%) required a surgical procedure. The most common injury diagnoses were fractures/dislocations, wound infections, and head, face, and brain injuries. The most common injury-related surgical procedures were wound debridement/skin grafting, treatment for orthopedic trauma, and surgical amputation. Among patient records with documented injury-related mechanisms, 162 (28%) indicated earthquake-related injuries. Earthquake preparedness planning for densely populated areas in resource-limited settings such as Haiti should account for injury-related medical, surgical, and rehabilitation needs that must be met immediately after the event and during the recovery phase, when altered physical and social environments can contribute to a continued elevated need for inpatient management of injuries.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004189:Disaster Planning; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D006205:Haiti / Q000453:epidemiology; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006775:Hospitals, Packaged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010359:Patient Readmission; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000628:therapy*