Main description:

The Reference Manual for Humanitarian Health Professionals: Missioncraft in Disaster Relief is a hands-on resource written for disaster relief practitioners, educators, and researchers working in clinical medicine, public health, or disaster management.

"Missioncraft" is the art and science of preparing and conducting successful field operations. This manual provides state-of-the-art technical reference information developed from inter-disciplinary, inter-agency, and international best practices. It also provides tools and templates for health professionals addressing key disaster issues including security stabilization, rapid epidemiological assessment, environmental health, disease surveillance, epidemic preparedness, communicable disease control, standardized case management, referral practices, laboratory diagnostics, and medical logistics. Reference information and associated tools are presented in a concise, comprehensive, and structured format to help humanitarian health professionals plan, undertake, and manage high-impact interventions.

Sections are arranged in chronological order of essential activities in disaster relief operations:

* Pre-departure preparation

* Field briefing

* Field assessment

* Field recommendations

* Field reporting

* Field project and staff management

* Medical coordination

* Re-entry

The Reference Manual for Humanitarian Health Professionals is an authoritative resource for disaster health professionals in leadership roles in governmental, non-governmental, Red Cross, or UN agencies; health professionals anticipating future disaster deployment as agency medical coordinator, team leader, or health cluster coordinator; field-based staff responsible for health outcomes of disaster-affected populations; disaster relief specialists involved in strategic planning, project design and development, project management, monitoring and evaluation, and accountability to affected populations; educators and trainees in disaster health best practices; and, humanitarian researchers.

Contents:

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Section 1 Pre-Departure Preparation

Guidance Notes

Core documents

1.1 Information

1.2 Personal Effects

Section 2 Field Briefing

Guidance Notes

Core Documents

2.1 Security Checklist

2.2 Medical Handover Checklist

Tools

2.T1 Health System Profile

2.T2 Emergency Management System Profile

2.T3 Subnational Jurisdictions

2.T4 Layers of Conflict

2.T5 Meetings Calendar

2.T6 Disaster Response Chronology

Section 3 Field Assessment

Guidance Notes

Core Documents

3.1 Rapid Epidemiological Assessment

3.2 Site-specific Assessment

3.3 Feeding Center Assessment

Tools

3.T1 Pre-Existing Indicators

3.T2 Population and Infrastructure Damage Estimation

3.T3 Sectoral Gap Identification

Section 4 Field Recommendations

Guidance Notes

Core Documents

4.1 Rapid Epidemiological Assessment Recommendations

Tools

4.T1 Recommendations Worksheet Section 5 Field Reporting

Guidance Notes

Core Documents

5.1 Rapid Epidemiological Assessment Report

5.2 Weekly Health Situation Report

5.3 Health Sector Status Summary

Section 6 Field Project and Staff Management

Guidance Notes

Core Documents

6.1 Project Planning Overview

6.2 Project Plan of Action

Tools

6.T1 Project Map

6.T2 Logical Framework Definitions and Process

6.T3 Logframe Template

6.T4 Project Monitoring and Evaluation Worksheet

6.T5 Remote Management Worksheet

6.T6 Disaster Medicine Staff Qualifications

Section 7 Medical Coordination

Guidance Notes

Core Documents

7.1 Medical Coordinator Generic Terms of Reference

7.2 Medical Coordinator Work Products

7.3 Health Cluster Principles of Coordination

Tools

7.T1 Health Cluster Meeting Agenda

7.T2 Health Cluster Meeting Process

Section 8 Technical Annexes

Guidance Notes

Annex 1 Humanitarian Programs

Annex 2 Security Sector

Annex 3 Health Sector

Annex 4 Tropical Medicine

Annex 5 Epidemic Preparedness and Response

Annex 6 Diagnostic Laboratory

Annex 7 Acronyms

Section 9 Resilience and Reentry

Guidance Notes

Epilogue

Author Biodata

The authors' criterion-referenced qualifications inform their pursuit of Missioncraft. Each author possesses:

current specialty board certifications or specialty college fellowships in clinical medicine and public health;

organizational experience as disaster medical coordinator or team leader for governmental, non-governmental, United Nations, and Red Cross organizations;

field experience as disaster medical coordinator or health advisor in two dozen or more countries on five continents;

language fluency in two or more official UN languages;

national or international awards for field excellence from governmental, non-governmental, and Red Cross organizations; and,

Rockefeller Foundation support for manuscript development.