title: The Canadian Armed Forces medical response to Typhoon Haiyan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In the setting of international disaster response, an important challenge is determining when it is appropriate to withdraw deployed assets as the acute disaster response transitions to recovery and rebuilding. We describe our experience with realtime data collection during our medical response to Typhoon Haiyan as a means to guide military aid mission parameters.
  
  
  METHODS
  The operational medical headquarters prospectively developed a database for use in this mission. Mobile medical teams (MMTs) were deployed to provide primary care, and the nurse designated to each MMT was responsible for entering and transmitting data daily to the medical headquarters. Data collected included the MMT location, basic patient demographics, the primary reason for the encounter and any treatment provided. These encounters were then classified as disaster, acute or chronic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Between Nov. 16 and Dec. 16, 2013, medical care was provided to 6596 local nationals; 238 (3.6%) had disaster-related illness or injury, 4321 (65.5%) had acute postdisaster medical conditions and 2037 (30.9%) sought medical care for chronic conditions. Of the 257 patients with traumatic injuries, 28 (11%) had disaster-related injuries and 214 (83%) had acute injuries that occurred postdisaster.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The data collected during the mission to the Phillippines was compiled with performance metrics from the other Disaster Assistance Response Team components to help advise the Canadian government regarding mission duration. We recommended that data collection continue on all future missions and be modified to provide further information to larger disaster coordination teams, such as the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
authors.affiliation: The Royal Canadian Medical Service, Deartment of National Defence, Ottawa, Ont.
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Savage
authors.affiliation: The Royal Canadian Medical Service, Deartment of National Defence, Ottawa, Ont., the Mount Sinai Hospital and University Health Network, Department of Medicine and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont., and the 1 Canadian Field Hospital, Petawawa, Ont.
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Christian
authors.affiliation: The Royal Canadian Medical Service, Deartment of National Defence, Ottawa, Ont., and the 1 Canadian Field Hospital, Petawawa, Ont.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: The Royal Canadian Medical Service, Deartment of National Defence, Ottawa, Ont., and the Department of Surgery, Division of General Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.
authors.forename: Dylan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pannell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D055867:Cyclonic Storms; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004190:Disasters; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008493:Medical Missions / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D008887:Military Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010679:Philippines / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D055815:Young Adult