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Event Type: Cyclone
Event onset date: March 15, 2019
Location of Event: City of Beira; Sofala Province; Mozambique
Geographic Coordinates: -19.79852823441601, 34.901979096369544
Date of observations reported: April 1-30, 2019
Response type: Medical Relief (PT Emergency Medical Team)
Introduction
The tropical cyclone Idai hit Mozambique in the city of Beira (Sofala Province) on March 15, 2019 with torrential rain and strong winds, severely affecting the provinces of Manica, Sofala, Tete, and Zambézia.1 According to the World Health Organization (WHO; Geneva, Switzerland)2 and the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC; Geneva, Switzerland)3 reports, this resulted in 603 deaths and 1,641 injuries that were directly related to the disaster. The devastation and destruction caused approximately 1.85 million people in need of humanitarian aid and led to the opportunity for the emergence of outbreaks, like cholera.
Portuguese Emergency Medical Team (PT EMT) Type 1 Fixed
The WHO’s Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Initiative has standards defining the key elements to be followed by EMTs, as well as the critical points to assure before and during deployment of a field hospital.4,5
The Portuguese National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM; Lisboa, Portugal), a government agency under the umbrella of the Minister of Health (Lisbon, Portugal), had its final certification visit on the same day of Cyclone Idai. Once certified by the WHO, the PT EMT deployed immediately an assessment team of three members who worked with the local emergency management authority to evaluate necessities. These elements helped to establish the first EMT Coordination Cell (EMT CC), optimizing the communication by taking advantage of speaking Portuguese. The EMT infrastructure deployed on Mozambican soil with the mission of helping a local health center in collaboration with the local authorities. The goal was to work in integration and not in overlap.
The PT EMT used the skills and expertise of its members, namely doctors of different specialties (ie, intensive care, internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, obstetrics, and infectious diseases); specialized nurses in critically ill patients, or emergency and disaster; prehospital technicians; psychologists; x-ray technicians; pharmaceuticals; and logistical elements. The PT EMT infrastructure has several care areas, namely an emergency room, ambulatory, minor surgery/orthopedics, pediatrics, pharmacy, and x-ray. This mission lasted for 30 days with a two-team...