Abstract
Purpose
To determine the characteristics of ocular injuries treated by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) field hospital following three natural disasters: the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the 2013 typhoon in the Philippines, and the 2015 earthquake and avalanche in Nepal. The purpose was to provide data, which would assist allocation of ocular resources for future disasters.
Design
Retrospective database study.
Methods
Ocular clinical data collected from the IDF database. Time postdisaster was divided into three periods: 4–8, 9–12, and 13–16 days. Diagnoses were categorized as disaster-related (DRD), defined as directly resulting from the disaster (mostly ocular trauma), and nondisaster-related (NDRD), defined as preexisting conditions or results of postevent living conditions problems.
Results
The field hospitals began functioning 3–8 days after the disaster and continued for 10.3 ± 1.5 days. Ocular conditions were treated in 265 (4.9%) of the total 5356 patients. Sixty-five cases were DRD and 200 were NDRD. Around day 9 postdisaster the predominant ocular referral changed from DRD to NDRD.
Conclusions
Deployment of a field hospital to a natural disaster area should take into account the type and geographic location of the disaster as well as the high number of nontraumatic ocular conditions.
Similar content being viewed by others
Log in or create a free account to read this content
Gain free access to this article, as well as selected content from this journal and more on nature.com
or
References
Jamkar A, Roy N. The leadership role of surgeons in disaster management. Indian J Surg. 2013;75:253–4.
Style. Sundnes KO, Birnbaum ML. Task force for quality control of disaster medicine, world association for disaster and emergency medicine; nordic society for disaster medicine. health disaster management guidelines for evaluation and research in the utstein. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2003;17(Supplement 3):1–177.
Merin O, Ash N, Levy G, Schwaber MJ, Kreiss Y. The Israeli field hospital in Haiti--ethical dilemmas in early disaster response. N Engl J Med. 2010;362:e38.
Kattimani VS, Tiwari RV, Pandi SC, Meka S, Lingamaneni KP. Disaster management and the role of oral maxillofacial surgeons. J Clin Diagn Res. 2015;9:JE01–4.
Briggs SM. Disaster management teams. Curr Opin Crit Care. 2005;11:585–9.
Born CT, Briggs SM, Ciraulo DL, Frykberg ER, Hammond JS, Hirshberg A, et al. Disasters and mass casualties: I. General principles of response and management. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2007;15:388–96.
Doi H, Kunikata H, Kato K, Nakazawa T. Ophthalmologic examinations in areas of Miyagi Prefecture affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2014;132:874–6.
Yuki K, Nakazawa T, Kurosaka D, Yoshida T, Alfonso EC, Lee RK, et al. Role of the Vision Van, a mobile ophthalmic outpatient clinic, in the Great East Japan Earthquake. Clin Ophthalmol. 2014;8:691–6.
Birnbaum ML, Daily EK, O’Rourke AP. Research and evaluations of the health aspects of disasters, part V: epidemiological disaster research. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30:648–56.
Zhong S, Clark M, Hou XY, Zang YL, Fitzgerald G. Development of hospital disaster resilience: conceptual framework and potential measurement. Emerg Med J. 2014;31:930–8.
Bartels SA, VanRooyen MJ. Medical complications associated with earthquakes. Lancet. 2012;379:748–57.
Birnbaum ML, Daily EK, O’Rourke AP, Kushner J. Research and evaluations of the health aspects of disasters, Part VI: interventional research and the disaster logic model. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31:181–94.
Marom T, Dagan D, Weiser G, Mendlovic J, Levy G, Shpriz M, Albukrek D. Pediatric otolaryngology in a field hospital in the Philippines. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2014;78:807–11.
Bar-On E, Lebel E, Blumberg N, Sagi R, Kreiss Y. Pediatric orthopedic injuries following an earthquake: experience in an acute phase field hospital. J Trauma Nurs. 2015;22:223–8.
Kreiss Y, Merin O, Peleg K, Levy G, Vinker S, Sagi R, et al. Early disaster response in Haiti: the Israeli field hospital experience. Ann Intern Med. 2010;153:45–8.
Detorakis ET, Spandidos DA. Pathogenetic mechanisms and treatment options for ophthalmic pterygium: trends and perspectives (Review). Int J Mol Med. 2009;23:439–47.
Coroneo MT. Pterygium as an early indicator of ultraviolet insolation: a hypothesis. Br J Ophthalmol. 1993;77:734–9.
McCarty CA, Taylor HR. A review of the epidemiologic evidence linking ultraviolet radiation and cataracts. Dev Ophthalmol. 2002;35:21–31.
Mariotti SP, Pascolini D, Rose-Nussbaumer J. Trachoma: global magnitude of a preventable cause of blindness. Br J Ophthalmol. 2009;93:563–8.
Perez E, Thompson, P. Natural disasters: causes and effects. Disaster Management Center at the University of Wisconson-Madison: Madison, WI; 1986.
Brolin K, Hawajri O, von Schreeb J. Foreign Medical Teams in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan 2013 - Who Were They, When Did They Arrive and What Did They Do? PLoS Curr. 2015 ;7 https://doi.org/10.1371/currents.dis.0cadd59590724486bffe9a0340b3e718.
Walk RM, Donahue TF, Stockinger Z, Knudson MM, Cubano M, Sharpe RP, et al. Haitian earthquake relief: disaster response aboard the USNS comfort. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2012;6:370–7.
Sutterlin CE 3rd. Spine surgery in Nepal: the 2015 earthquake. J Spine Surg. 2015;1:28–34.
Pradhan E, Limbu B, Thakali S, Jain NS, Gurung R, Ruit S. The impact of ocular trauma during the Nepal earthquake in 2015. BMC Ophthalmol. 2017;17:32.
Cai YS, Zhou GJ. Compressive eye injuries caused by earthquake. Chin Med J. 1983;96:731–6.
Cuny FC. Aim and scope of disaster management. Disaster Management Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: Madison, WI; 1986.
Heier JS, Enzenauer RW, Wintermeyer SF, Delaney M, LaPiana FP. Ocular injuries and diseases at a combat support hospital in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Arch Ophthalmol. 1993;111:795–8.
Bajaire B, Oudovitchenko E, Morales E. Vitreoretinal surgery of the posterior segment for explosive trauma in terrorist warfare. Graefe’s Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2006;244:991–5.
Owens BD, Kragh JF Jr, Wenke JC, Macaitis J, Wade CE, Holcomb JB. Combat wounds in operation iraqi freedom and operation enduring freedom. J Trauma. 2008;64:295–9.
Blanch RJ, Scott RA. Military ocular injury: presentation, assessment and management. J R Army Med Corps. 2009;155:279–84.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Osaadon, P., Tsumi, E., Pokroy, R. et al. Ocular morbidity in natural disasters: field hospital experience 2010–2015. Eye 32, 1717–1722 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-018-0167-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Version of record:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-018-0167-3
