Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T07:58:28.388Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Complex, Humanitarian Emergencies: II. Medical Liaison and Training

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Frederick M. Burkle Jr.
Frederick M. Burkle Jr.*
Affiliation:
Professor of Pediatrics, Surgery (EMS), and Public Health, Chairman, Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Surgery, John A. Burns School of Medicine and School of Public Health, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii
*
University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine, 1319 Punahou Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96826USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In complex, humanitarian emergencies, professional liaison roles are just one of many that evolve from the coordination of United Nations agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross, international and national non-governmental relief organizations, and coalition military forces. Liaison is crucial to the humanitarian relief process. Decision makers benefit from liaisons' professional experience, their knowledge of the characteristics, missions, and capabilities of each major participant in the relief process, and in their ability to coordinate and clarify professional issues in meeting the goals of a mission. Medical liaison roles develop from the awareness that complex emergencies primarily are catastrophic public-health emergencies. Unfortunately, education and training of the medical liaison currently are ill-defined. However, limited experience suggests that skills should be broadly based in principles of disaster epidemiology, assessment and management, knowledge of contributing relief resources, agencies and the military, and international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.

Keywords

communicationscoordinationdisasterseducationemergencieshumanitarianinteragency communicationsInternational Committee of the Red Crossliaisonmedical liaisonmilitarynongovernmental organizationstrainingUnited Nations
Type
Special Reports
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , March 1995 , pp. 43 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Morris, W (Ed): American Heritage Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston 1973:752.Google Scholar
2. Webster New World Dictionary: 3rd Edition. Prentice Hall, NY 1986.Google Scholar
3. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance: OFDA Annual Report FY1992. Agency for International Development, Washington, D.C., 1992, p42.Google Scholar
4. Multi-service procedures for foreign humanitarian assistance operations: Worldwide coordination. Air Land Sea Application Center, Va. Final Draft, October 1993.Google Scholar
5. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance: OFDA Annual Report FY 1991. Agency for International Development, Washington, D.C., 1991, pp 120–123Google Scholar
6. Burkle, FM: International medical liaison: Evolving concepts. Presentation/Abstract. Disaster Medicine: The Federal Response. 8th Annual Conference on Military Medicine, Bethesda, Md., 8–10 November 1993.Google Scholar
7. Operations other than war: Volume 1, Humanitarian assistance. Center for Army Lessons Learned. USA Combined Arms Command, Fort Leavenworth, Kan., 1992:18–19.Google Scholar
8. Burkle, FM: The function of medical liaison between the military and on-site civilian humanitarian relief organizations. Presentation/ Abstract. Washington D.C., 120th Annual American Public Health Association Meeting, 1992.Google Scholar
9. Fisher, R, Ury, W: Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in. Harvard Negotiating Project. Penguin Books, New York 1985: pp 17–84.Google Scholar
10. Fisher, R, Kopelman, E, Schneider, AK: Beyond Machiavelli: Tools for coping with conflict. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1994: pp 6–41.Google Scholar
11. Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Center: Operation Restore Hope HACC after action report. HACC Central Command, Florida, 1993, pp 1–3.Google Scholar
12. International Committee of the Red Cross: Basic rules of the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols: Understanding humanitarian law. ICRC, Geneva, December 1987.Google Scholar
13. Kent, RC: Anatomy of disaster relief. Pinter Publishers, London. 1987: pp 68–80.Google Scholar
14. Anderson, GW: Operation Sea Angel: A retrospective on the 1991 humanitarian relief operation in Bangladesh. Strategy and Campaign Department, Report 1-92, Naval War College, RI. Jan 1992, p 43.Google Scholar
15. United States Pacific Command: After action report on Operation Sea Angel. USCINCPAC, Camp Smith, Hawaii. 1991.Google Scholar
16. Minear, L, Chelliah, UBP, Crisp, J, et al. : United Nations coordination of the international response to the Gulf crisis 1990–92. Occ. paper No. 13, TJ Watson Jr Institute for International Studies, Brown University, R.I., 1991.Google Scholar
17. Minear, L, Weiss, TG, Campbell, KM: Humanitarism and war: Learning the lessons from recent armed conflicts. Occ. paper No. 8, TJ Watson Jr, Institute for International Studies, Brown University, R.I., 1991.Google Scholar
18. Disasters: Preparedness and mitigation in the Americas: International humanitarian assistance. PAHO, 1992;50:1–7.Google Scholar
19. International Committee of the Red Cross: International Red Cross Handbook, 12th Ed., ICRC, Geneva, 1983.Google Scholar
20. Bennett, AL: International Organizations: Principles and Issues. 5th Ed., Prentice Hall, NJ. 1991; pp 435–461.Google Scholar
21. Department of Public Information: Basic facts about the United Nations. United Nations, New York, 1992.Google Scholar
22. Western, KA: Epidemiologic surveillance after natural disaster. Pan American Health Organization, Scientific Publication. PAHO, Washington, D.C. 1982, No 420:42.Google Scholar
23. Toole, MJ: Communicable disease epidemiology following disasters. Ann Emer Med. 1992;21:418–420.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24. Noji, EK: Natural Disasters. In: Disaster Management. Kvetan, V (Ed), Crit Care Clin NA 1991;7:273–274.Google ScholarPubMed
25. World Health Organization Division of Mental Health: Psychosocial consequences of disaster: Prevention and management. WHO, Geneva. 1992; pp 7–39.Google Scholar
26. Burkle, FM: Triage of disaster-related neuropsychiatric casualties. Emerg Med Clin NA 1991;9:87–105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27. Baccino-Astrada, A: Manual on the rights and duties of medical personnel in armed conflicts. ICRC, Geneva. 1982:67–76.Google Scholar
28. Vollmar, LC: Development of the laws of war as they pertain to medical units and their personnel. Milit Med 1992;157:231–235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29. Wurmser, D, Dyke, NB: The Professionalization of Peacekeeping, a Study Group Report. The US Institute of Peace, Washington, D.C., 1993; p 34.Google Scholar
30. Exercise Emerald Express: Humanitarian exercise after action report. 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Camp Pendleton, CA, 1994.Google Scholar
31. Perrin, P: Training medical personnel: HELP and SOS courses. International Review of the Red Cross 1994;284:505–512.Google Scholar
32. Russback, R: International assistance operations in disaster situations. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 1990;5:247–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33. Landesman, LY: The availability of disaster preparation courses at Schools of Public Health. Am J Public Health 1993;83:1494–1495.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
34. Proceedings of the National Workshop for curriculum development on disaster preparedness in U.S. Schools of Public Health. FEMA Conference Facility, Berryville, Va.June 1994.Google Scholar