Role of laboratories and blood banks in disaster situations
A practical guide developed at the workshop held in Managua, Nicaragua, 7 June 2001
Recent disasters in Central America, such as Hurricanes Mitch and Georges in 1998 and the El Salvador earthquake in 2001, have underscored the importance of including the activities of public health laboratories, clinical laboratories, and blood banks in the health sector's emergency plans. The purpose of this guide is to sensitize and orient health authorities, laboratory directors, laboratory technicians, and blood bank personnel to the identification of responsibilities and functions of laboratory and blood bank services in disaster situations, taking into account priorities, needs, and the local capacity for immediate response. The response of health services to disaster situations will be improved when activities to mitigate and reduce vulnerability and to restore and reorganize laboratory and blood bank services are incorporated in emergency plans.
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