Main description:

Surgical care is increasingly recognized as a critical component of global health, and strong surgical skills, teamwork, and poise under pressure become even more imperative during conflict or disaster. When faced with hospital bombings or devastating earthquakes, healthcare personnel must develop special techniques and abilities to ably care for patients despite limited resources and a disrupted health system. In Operation Crisis, Dr. Adam L. Kushner brings together 22 medical experts from around the world to recount their experiences in the field when disaster struck. These candid firsthand accounts from both local and international aid surgeons provide clinicians and public health practitioners with insightful lessons for effectively treating surgical patients under the most grueling of circumstances. Moving from conflict settings that include war zones in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, and South Sudan, Operation Crisis also touches on post-earthquake Haiti and Nepal and post-tsunami Indonesia. Individual themed chapters cover mass casualty training, burn care, obstetric care, sexual violence, and landmine injuries.
Combining personal stories with lessons learned and possible interventions, these vivid and affecting essays detail the immediate aftermath of conflict and disaster while pointing the way to improving care for future victims of crisis. Intended to spark further discussion and function as an advocacy tool while highlighting situations where surgical care can save lives and reduce disability, this book is a valuable resource for medical professionals, students, policy makers, international aid organizations, and philanthropic donors. Contributors: Kapendra Shekhar Amatya, Samer Attar, Jeffrey A. Bailey, Lucas C. Carlson, James C. Cobey, Dattesh R. Dave, Dan L. Deckelbaum, Richard A. Gosselin, Shailvi Gupta, Edna Adan Ismail, Thaim B. Kamara, T. Peter Kingham, Adam L. Kushner, Judy M. Lee, Maria "Tane" Pilar Luna, Brijesh Mishra, Kyle N. Remick, Lauri J. Romanzi, Michael Sinclair, Barclay T. Stewart, Marten van Wijhe, Evan G. Wong

Contents:

Preface: Adam L. Kushner, MD, MPH, FACS Part I. Personal perspectivesChapter 1: Surgical care after the April 2015 Nepal Earthquake, Kapendra Shekhar Amatya, MBBS, MSChapter 2: A heath system destroyed: Surgical care in Syria, Samer Attar, MD and Shailvi Gupta, MD, MPH Chapter 3: A surgeon's day in South Sudan, Michael Sinclair, MD Chapter 4: An obstetrician in the field: Some lessons learned, Maria "Tane" Pilar Luna, MD Part II. Surgical care principlesChapter 5: Triage and training: A mass casualty incident in Sierra Leone, Lucas Carlson, MD, MPH, Thaim B. Kamara, MD, FWACS and T. Peter Kingham, MD, FACS Chapter 6: Wounds and fractures: Orthopedics after the Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami, Dattesh Dave, B.S., MSc and Richard Gosselin, MD, MPH Chapter 7: Burn care: Experience from the Nepalese civil war, Barclay T. Stewart, MD, MscPH and Brijesh Mishra, MS, MCh Chapter 8: Anesthesia: An assessment mission in the Congo, Marten van Wijhe, MD, PhD Chapter 9: Obstetrics and gynecology during a civil war, Judy M. Lee, MD, MPH, MBAChapter 10: Sexual violence: Genital fistula and conflict, Lauri J. Romanzi MD, FACOG and Edna Adan Ismail, SRN, CMB, SCM Part III: A way forwardChapter 11: Advocating for a cause: Documenting land mine injuries in Cambodia, James C. Cobey, MD, MPH, FACS Chapter 12: After the Haiti Earthquake: Evan G. Wong, MD, MPH, and Dan L. Deckelbaum, MD, MPH, FACS Chapter 13: US military Joint Trauma System and roles of care, LTC Kyle N. Remick, MD and Col Jeffrey A. Bailey, MD, FACS Conclusion: Barclay Stewart, MD, MscPH and Adam L. Kushner, MD, MPH, FACS Index