Providing care in emergency situations to be discussed at Abu Dhabi Medical Congress

The Emergency Congress will focus on models currently being used by governments to tackle emergency relief in situations arising through natural and man made disasters. This can include anything from flash flooding to a high rise building on fire.

Channelling how the emergency services cope adequately in such circumstances is essential. Moreover, one of the biggest issues surrounding the subject is providing medical care to a population affected by such situations.

James Scheulen from Emergency Medical Services at John Hopkins Medical Institution in the United States has wide experience of implementing systems that deal with crisis situations. He believes every scenario that arises is unique.

"There is no single right answer," he said. "There are multiple ways to get people to the right place," he added.

Scheulen believes the key to achieving this is by introducing proper systems. "You have a system in place to tackle a disaster the same way you operate every day," he said. "Every time you have an event you can learn and do better next time, but if you have systems in place with clear definitions and a clear chain of command you still have the basic foundations in place to tackle any disaster," he added.

The introduction of systems or standard operating procedures where multiple hospitals and healthcare providers work together is not without problems, and some are not concerned directly with providing care.

"Everyone who tries to set up a system understands there will be a level of politics in place. You can either change it or work with it," advised Scheulen. Although ultimately for a protocol to be introduced you "have to have the ability of government to pass law to set up a system."

In the Middle East the ability of governments to introduce laws and practices that can benefit the country is strong, but differences of opinion will always exist between individuals involved about the best way to proceed.

"It's an unusual event when large numbers descend on hospitals. It's not so much the response of the hospitals as other government agencies," Scheulen said. "But it raises the question, what is an acceptable level of care?"

This question can be included to apply to all areas of health coverage, but in respect to dealing with emergency situations it's vital to determine what can be achieved.

"You have to find common ground, and set standards in pre-hospital providers for treatment to be given," he said. "What kind of patient care are you providing? You must ask this question to allow specific places to develop specialities," he concluded.