Operation NavaJeevan

Introduction

In August 2018, Kerala, India witnessed its worst flood in over a century, leaving many dead and thousands displaced. With the support of National health mission ‘Operation Navajeevan,’ a public-private partnership between the district health administration and local hospitals, was set up in Kozhikode to provide medical aid to flood victims. This study identifies pre-requisites, describes challenges, and depicts the epidemiology and of patients seen in these camps.

Aim

1. To identify prerequisites and challenges faced in running medical relief camps in a flood affected region.
2. Measures taken to avoid duplication of services.
3. To identify medical needs of the floodaffected population.
4. To prepare an ideal emergency medical camp (PPP) model.

Methods

A control centre with drugs & logistic unit was set up at district medical office to monitor and supervise various camps. A mobile medical documentation format was created to record details of each camp. Cases of patients seen at these camps were compiled and later analysed. The medical officer sent a report from each camp to the control centre each day to specify the daily difficulties faced by each camp. Mobile ICUs were kept on standby to respond in the event of emergent circumstances or surge demands.

Transfer protocol and treatment guidelines formulated and standardized.

Result

Over 2 weeks, approximately 40,000 patients were seen in 280 medical camps. Major medical issues included exacerbation of chronic illnesses due to loss of medications(18,490), acute respiratory infections (7451), psychiatric illnesses (5,327), trauma (3,736), skin infection (792), tropical fever (498), acute gastroenteritis (394), ACS (17). Of the cases of fever, 137 people were due to leptospirosis. Major challenges included a lack of training in disaster management and failure of documentation systems.

Discussion

A well organized control centre, improved training in disaster medicine, and reliable documentation systems are crutial for coordinating medical camps in disaster affected areas. Public private partnerships offer a model for providing medical relief in disaster settings.

Source : We Care Coffee Table Book - Good, Replicable and Innovative Practices 2019