Publications by authors named "Avi Abargel"

Objective: To propose strategies and recommendations for future planning and deployment of field hospitals after earthquakes by comparing the experience of 4 field hospitals deployed by The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Medical Corps in Armenia, Turkey, India and Haiti.

Methods: Quantitative data regarding the earthquakes were collected from published sources; data regarding hospital activity were collected from IDF records; and qualitative information was obtained from structured interviews with key figures involved in the missions.

Results: The hospitals started operating between 89 and 262 hours after the earthquakes.

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Field hospitals were deployed by the Israel Defense Forces as part of the international relief efforts after major seismic events, one in Haiti (2010) and one in Japan (2011). The teams treated a total of 44 pregnant and 24 nonpregnant women and performed 16 deliveries and three cesarean deliveries under extreme conditions. Half of all deliveries were complicated by preeclampsia and 31% were preterm (at 30-32 weeks of gestation).

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Mass disaster medicine is characterized by the need to manage limited resources that are far inadequate to meet the population's demands. Under these hectic conditions, lack of specific medical equipment is expected and requires improvisation using available items. We describe the innovative use of medical improvisations at the Israel Defense Forces field hospital, working in the earthquake zone, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on January 2010.

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The earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010 caused an estimated 230,000 deaths and injured approximately 250,000 people. The Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps Field Hospital was fully operational on site only 89 hours after the earthquake struck and was capable of providing sophisticated medical care. During the 10 days the hospital was operational, its staff treated 1111 patients, hospitalized 737 patients, and performed 244 operations on 203 patients.

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