Guidelines for the use of foreign field hospitals in the aftermath of sudden-impact disasters
Report on the international workshop, October 2005, Ahmedabad, India
A field hospital is a mobile, self-contained, self-sufficient health care facility capable of rapid deployment and expansion or contraction to meet immediate emergency requirements for a specified period of time. The field hospital may be temporarily dispatched with personnel or donated without personnel. Field hospitals are deployed only: a) following an appropriate declaration of emergency and a request from the health authorities of the affected country; b) when they are integrated into the local health services system; and c) when the respective roles and responsibilities for their installation and operational sustainment have been clearly defined.
Field hospitals are used to substitute or complement medical systems in the aftermath of sudden-impact events that produce disasters for three distinct purposes: to provide early emergency medical care (including Advanced Trauma Life Support; this period lasts only up to 48 hours following the onset of an event), provide follow-up care for trauma cases, emergencies, routine health care and routine emergencies (from day 3 to day 15), and act as a temporary facility to substitute damaged installations pending final repair or reconstruction (usually from the second month to two years or more).