Evaluating a research training programme for frontline health workers in conflict-affected and fragile settings in the middle east.

Background: Health Research Capacity Building (HRCB) is key to improving research production among health workers in LMICs to inform related policies and reduce health disparities in conflict settings. However, few HRCB programmes are available in the MENA region, and few evaluations of HRCB globally are reported in the literature.

Methods: Through a qualitative longitudinal design, we evaluated the first implementation of the Center for Research and Education in the Ecology of War (CREEW) fellowship.

Practicing Military Medicine in Truly Austere Environments: What to Expect, How to Prepare, When to Improvise.

Introduction: The majority of the published literature on contemporary military medicine contradicts the concept of austere. Operational medicine is part of every armed conflict around the world, while armed forces of most countries internationally have limited medical resources especially in the front line. The aim of this review is to identify the particularities of a truly austere environment and present a short guide of preparation and action for military medical personnel internationally.

Health Care Providers in War and Armed Conflict: Operational and Educational Challenges in International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Conventions, Part II. Educational and Training Initiatives.

ABSTRACTNo discipline has been impacted more by war and armed conflict than health care has. Health systems and health care providers are often the first victims, suffering increasingly heinous acts that cripple the essential health delivery and public health infrastructure necessary for the protection of civilian and military victims of the state at war. This commentary argues that current instructional opportunities to prepare health care providers fall short in both content and preparation, especially in those operational skill sets necessary to manage multiple challenges, threats, and violations under international humanitarian law and to perform triage management in a resource-poor medical setting.

Health Care Providers in War and Armed Conflict: Operational and Educational Challenges in International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Conventions, Part I. Historical Perspective.

Since 1945, the reason for humanitarian crises and the way in which the world responds to them has dramatically changed every 10 to 15 years or less. Planning, response, and recovery for these tragic events have often been ad hoc, inconsistent, and insufficient, largely because of the complexity of global humanitarian demands and their corresponding response system capabilities. This historical perspective chronicles the transformation of war and armed conflicts from the Cold War to today, emphasizing the impact these events have had on humanitarian professionals and their struggle to adapt to increasing humanitarian, operational, and political challenges.

Consensus recommendations for essential vascular care in low- and middle-income countries.

Objective: Many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are ill equipped to care for the large and growing burden of vascular conditions. We aimed to develop essential vascular care recommendations that would be feasible for implementation at nearly every setting worldwide, regardless of national income.

Methods: The normative Delphi method was used to achieve consensus on essential vascular care resources among 27 experts in multiple areas of vascular care and public health as well as with experience in LMIC health care.

Promoting quality of care in disaster response: A survey of core surgical competencies.

Background: Recent humanitarian crises have led to a call for professionalization of the humanitarian field, but core competencies for the delivery of surgical care have yet to be established. The objective of this study was to survey surgeons with experience in disaster response to identify surgical competencies required to be effective in these settings.

Methods: An online survey elucidating demographic information, scope of practice, and previous experience in global health and disaster response was transmitted to surgeons from a variety of surgical societies and nongovernmental organizations.