Between August 15th and 19th, 2011, eight 5th-year medical students from the Keio University School of Medicine had the opportunity to visit the Peking University School of Medicine and hold a discussion session titled "What is the most effective way to educate people for survival in an acute disaster situation (before the mental health care stage)?" During the session, ...

The use of mobile devices capable of wireless communications such as mobile phones, PDAs, and laptops in disaster recovery has been an important research topic for several years. However, while the majority of previous research has focused on voice and data communications a small number of researchers have proposed the use of multimedia content in aiding with patient diagnosis. Disaster recover...

Objective The Florida Department of Health (FDOH), Bureau of Epidemiology, partnered with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to improve surveillance methods in post disaster or response events. A new process was implemented for conducting surveillance to monitor injury and illness for those presenting for...

Using teams of robots to complete a task provides a number of advantages over the use of a single robot. Multiple robots are able to complete tasks faster, and provide redundancy in case of equipment failure or loss. Teams of robots with different capabilities and physiologies are beneficial because they allow a team to provide a high level of overall functionality while striking a balance betw...

BACKGROUND Assistance from non-professional disaster volunteers (hereinafter, volunteers) is essential for disaster victims to recover physically and rebuild their lives; however, disaster victims in some areas are reluctant to accept assistance from volunteers. This study explored factors that may influence collaborative activities between volunteers and victims of earthquake disasters. METH...

This paper discusses how Mozambique coped with the health system needs in terms of specialized doctors since independence, in a troubled context of war, lack of financial resources and modifying settings of foreign aid. The Ministry of Health (MOH) managed to make up for its severe scarcity of specialist MDs especially through contracting expatriate technical assistance. Different scenarios, pa...

These guidelines were developed by the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine (DGMQ), CDC and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Health Work Group. Please see the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement page for more information regarding the special health challenges of refugees. In order to address such needs, ORR provides guidance, resources and oversight for refugee medical assistance...

In 1975, writing about the immorality of a strike by resident physicians (housestaff) in New York City,1 I pointed out that "for a physician to strike, for whatever reason, is unconscionable and totally contrary to every standard. of medical ethics and morality." Although sympathetic to the demands of the housestaff, I argued that to leave patients without direct medical assistance and attendan...

Outlawing well established forms of assisted reproduction places obstacles in the path of couples who wish to attain their reproductive goals with medical assistance. One effect of restrictive reproductive laws that has received widespread attention is cross-border reproductive travel. In Europe, such travel is permitted by the policy of free movement of persons that is a cornerstone of the dem...