Best practice guidelines on emergency surgical care in disaster situations

Overview

These guidelines have been extracted from the WHO manual Surgical Care at the District Hospital (SCDH), which is a part of the WHO Integrated Management on Emergency and Essential Surgical Care (IMEESC) tool kit.

The following materials relevant to country's disaster situation should be taken from the IMEESC tool:

• Best practice protocols for Clinical Procedures Safety (disaster planning, trauma team responsibilities, hand hygiene, operating room, and anaesthesia check list, postoperative management, application of cast and splints, cardiac life support, airway management),
• Needs assessment • Essential Emergency Equipment List
• Details of anaesthesia, gunshot and landmine injuries in chapters 13, 14, 17 and 18, in SCDH