Operative care after the Haiti 2010 earthquake: implications for post-disaster definitive care.

6 To the Editor, 7 8 On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti, 9 affecting 3 million people and causing 220000 deaths and 10 more than 300000 injuries [1]. In response to a request from 11 Hopital Saint Francois de Sales in Port-au-Prince, a series of 12 surgical teams were deployed from the Shock Trauma Center 13 at the University of Maryland Medical Center (STC-UMMC) 14 to operate 2 operating rooms and provide postoperative care. 15 The STC-UMMC teams operated alongside the staff of 16 Hopital Saint Francois de Sales from January 30 through 17 June 27, 2010. After reviewing the teams’ operative records 18 and reports of other foreign medical teams (FMTs) 19 responding the Haiti earthquake (see Table and Fig.), we 20 have explored the potential implications of these experiences 21 regarding disaster preparedness and FMT response.