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Surgical Procedures Performed by Emergency Medical Teams in Sudden-Onset Disasters: A Systematic Review

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Abstract

Background

Emergency medical teams (EMTs) frequently provide surgical care after sudden-onset disasters (SODs) in low- and middle-income countries. The purpose of this review is to describe the types of surgical procedures performed by EMTs with general surgical capability in order to aid the recruitment and training of surgeons for these teams.

Methods

A search of electronic databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, and EMBASE) was carried out to identify articles published between 1990 and 2018 that describe the type of surgical procedures performed by EMTs in the impact and post-impact phases of a SOD. Further relevant articles were obtained by hand searching reference lists.

Results

A total of 16 articles met the inclusion criteria. Articles reporting on EMTs from a number of different countries and responding to a variety of SODs were included. There was a high prevalence of procedures for extremity soft tissue injuries (46.8%) and fractures (28.3%), although a number of abdominal and genitourinary/obstetric procedures were also reported.

Conclusions

Based upon this review, deployment of surgeons or teams with experience in the management of soft tissue wounds, orthopaedic trauma, abdominal surgery, and obstetrics is recommended.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Children’s Hospital at Westmead Clinic School, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Charles A. Coventry & Andrew J. A. Holland

  2. Department of Surgery, Geelong Hospital, Geelong, VIC, Australia

    Ashish I. Vaska

  3. Department of Paediatric Surgery, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Andrew J. A. Holland

  4. National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, Darwin, NT, Australia

    David J. Read

  5. School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Rebecca Q. Ivers

Authors
  1. Charles A. Coventry
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  2. Ashish I. Vaska
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  4. David J. Read
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  5. Rebecca Q. Ivers
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Correspondence to Charles A. Coventry.

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Coventry, C.A., Vaska, A.I., Holland, A.J.A. et al. Surgical Procedures Performed by Emergency Medical Teams in Sudden-Onset Disasters: A Systematic Review. World J Surg 43, 1226–1231 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-019-04915-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-019-04915-1

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