Deployment of Medical Relief Teams of the Indian Army in the Aftermath of the Nepal Earthquake: Lessons Learned.
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness · 2016-12-29 · Observational study
Abstract
In April 2015 a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal. As part of relief operations named Operation Maitri, the Indian Armed Forces deployed 3 field hospitals in the disaster zone. Rapid deployment of mobile surgical teams to far-flung, inaccessible areas was done by helicopters. In an operational deployment spanning 1 month, a total of 7532 patients were treated and 105 surgeries were carried out on 83 patients. One-fifth of the patients were less than 18 years of age. One-third of the patients had traumatic injuries directly attributable to the earthquake, whereas the remaining patients were treated for diseases of poor sanitation and hygiene as well as chronic illness that had been neglected owing to the collapse of the local health infrastructure. Cases of traumatic injuries directly related to the earthquake were seen maximally on the 5th day after the index event but tapered off rapidly by the 10th day. Nontraumatic illness required more attention thereafter and a need was felt for separate child health and reproductive health services later in the mission. Although immediate management of injuries and surgical intervention in selected cases was possible, ensuring long-term care and rehabilitation of cases proved problematic. This was especially so for spinal injury cases. Data capturing by a paper-based system was found to be inadequate. The lessons learned from this mission have led to a reimagining of the composition of future relief operations. Apart from mobile surgical teams, on which conventional field hospitals are generally centered, a separate section for preventive medicine and child and maternal services is needed. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:394-398).
Abstract © the authors or publisher, via PubMed. Reuse and removal
Tags
Helicopter & air ambulance · Low- and middle-income settings · Military & tactical
Related articles
- Role of the Deployed Aeromedical Response Team Squadron (DARTS) on Operation RUMAN. (J R Army Med Corps, 2019)
- Disaster Report: Military Helicopter Crash in a Deployed Environment - Providers' and Patient's Perspectives. (Prehosp Disaster Med, 2026)
- Medical Support for Aircraft Disaster Search and Recovery Operations at Sea: the RSN Experience. (Prehosp Disaster Med, 2016)
- Critical care in the austere environment: providing exceptional care in unusual places. (Crit Care Med, 2008)
- Lessons from foreign military surgeons in the Korean War: advancing trauma surgery and preparing for future conflicts. (J Trauma Inj, 2025)
- Efficient post-disaster patient transportation and transfer: experiences and lessons learned in emergency medical rescue in Aceh after the 2004 Asian tsunami. (Mil Med, 2014)