Field hospitals are deployed in a wide range of scenarios including natural disasters, epidemic outbreaks, armed conflicts, and refugee crises. Operation in these conditions requires adaptation to disaster medicine principles and operation in an austere environment and unfamiliar cultural milieu, whilst maintaining acceptable standards of care. For many of those involved, it may be their first encounter. This book, which is the first to address the preparation and operation of field hospitals, brings together the experience of world leaders in the field. Coming from a wide variety of organizations and backgrounds, all have extensive experience in field hospital deployment in multiple scenarios. The text - containing both background information and practical guidelines - will serve all those involved in field hospital deployment, including policymakers and planners, physicians and nurses, paramedical professionals, and logisticians. It will help them deliver optimal care to people around the globe in difficult times of need.
"This appears to be the first book dedicated to the preparation and operation of field hospitals. Its publication comes at an ideal time in which field hospitals are being used in the setting of a worldwide pandemic. It will serve as a foundation on which future research and clinical experience will build."
-- Zachary Finn, MD (Regions Hospital) Doody's Review
This book was written for all team members of emergency medical teams who could be deployed to help establish and run field hospitals during times of crisis. The authors are experts themselves with significant in-field experience, as are the contributors who hail from all over the world. The authors and many contributors are all in positions in which they have led or would lead teams deploying to field hospitals.