After the Haiti 2021 Earthquake: Triage and treatment data for a cohort of patients transported for higher level of care

IntroOn August 14, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake occurred in the South of Haiti, killing over 2,200 people and leaving at least 12,000 injured. On August 17th, a joint task force coordinated the triage, treatment, and transport for patients arriving at the Port-au-Prince airport from the South. MethodsFrom August 17th-27th, approximately 243 patients were encountered at the Port-au-Prince airport. For the first three days of operations, written notes, reports, and various chat logs from WhatsApp were used to compile this data. Results243 patents were encountered at the airport Triage and Treatment from August 17 to August 27. Orthopedic injuries were the most common presenting injury with 20% of patients having a pelvis fracture (the most prevalent injury). Of the 174 with known transfer destinations, 118 (68%) were transported to one of three tertiary care hospitals, with 99 going via ground ambulance to the two in Port au Prince, and 19 going via HAA helicopter to Mirebalais. Once treatment operations were initiated, 106 patients received some form of treatment at the airport while awaiting transport. DiscussionInteragency coordination was the key to rapid scale up. To address the most prevalent patient issues, a treatment bundle was conceptualized a few days into operations that consisted of IV fluids, analgesia, IV antibiotics, wound debridement and cleaning, and tetanus prophylaxis.