Medical transportation model of the injured/patients at Aceh Airport during the rescue operation after the Indonesian tsunami

Abstract

Objective To investigate the appropriate model of medical transportation for the injured/patients at the Aceh Airport United Medical Transportation Center after the disaster of Indonesian tsunami, and evaluate the reasonable usage of rescue resources.Methods Process of the joint transportation that was the first cooperation between China International Search and Rescue Team (CISAR) and the teams of other countries for the injured/patients after the disaster of Indonesian tsunami was reviewed and summarized.Results The united medical transportation center of Aceh Airport was proposed and organized by United States Agency for International Development (USAID), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the US military.Helicopter evacuation of the injured/patients from the traffic blocked refugee and islands to Aceh Airport was undertaken by the US military, Indonesian government, Australian and Singapore Air Force.Medical staffs and volunteers from China, United States and Australia were responsible for the emergency medication there, including triage, treatment and the transportation to incity hospitals.Totally 217critical injuries/diseases were treated at the center.The top three diseases were injuries/infected wounds, acute respiratory system diseases and acute digestive system diseases.Conclusions A medical rescue mode is established with taking united medical transportation center as the hub and the rescues could be afforded along with the sequence from disaster-hit area to helicopter, to center and finally to hospitals.The united transportation and treatment on the base of the cooperation among rescue teams, the military and international organizations compose the model that enabling effectiveness, making the most of resources and planning as a whole.Powerful air transportation capability is vital to the rapid relief response and effectively solves the bottleneck of transportation. Key words: Natural disasters; Emergency medical service; Air ambulances; Transportation of patients