title: Telecommunications in Israeli field hospitals deployed to three crisis zones.
abstract: A field hospital overseas requires various types of communication equipment. This study presents the communications equipment used by three Israeli field hospital delegations to earthquake sites at Adapazari, Turkey, in 1999, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 2010 and Minamisanriku, Japan, in 2011. The delegations to Turkey and Haiti were relatively large (105-230 personnel) and were on the site early (three to four days after each event). The 55-person delegation to Japan arrived later and was established as an outpatient community hospital. Standard military VHF radios were the only effective tool up to 5 km, until cellular coverage was regained (1-2 weeks after each event). International communication was good. While short-wave communication (telephone and Internet) was used in Turkey, a direct satellite channel was set up in Haiti. In Japan, BGAN Inmarsat provided efficient Wi-Fi for all needs. Motorola walkie talkies were not efficient beyond the immediate vicinity. This paper recommends continued use of military-specification equipment alongside newer modalities, particularly in situations where infrastructure is damaged.
authors.affiliation: Consultant Orthopaedist with the Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps and at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Zerifin, affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
authors.forename: Aharon S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Finestone
authors.forename: Gadi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Yaron
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bar-Dayan
mesh_terms: D004190:Disasters; D055866:Earthquakes; D004631:Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems; D006205:Haiti; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D007564:Japan; D008952:Mobile Health Units; D011446:Prospective Studies; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013685:Telecommunications / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014421:Turkey
keywords: Israel; field hospital; mass casualty incident; radio equipment; telecommunications equipment