Initial medical reception, intervention and survey work in combined military and civilian humanitarian aid: Operation ‘safe haven’, Northern Iraq 1991

Abstract

Service medical teams were involved in the medical screening and initial reception of displaced Kurds into the first United Nations Relocation Camp in Zakho, Northern Iraq in April 1991. Massive logistic support and adequate security were required for the delivery of the essential elements of relief. The prompt deployment of such teams enabled rapid surveys of the medical extent of the disaster to be undertaken during the screening process whilst individuals were prioritized for rehydration, supplemental feeding and therapy. Over 12,000 displaced persons entered the camp in the first 10 days. Reported perinatal mortality during the two‐month exodus crisis in an un‐selected group of 2,200 was 375 per 1,000 births. In the same group of families surviving to tell the tale, one in five of the infants who had been in the mountains had died and the fertility rate may have been as high as 380 per 1,000 women of child‐bearing age in the previous year. In a larger survey of 3,825 unselected persons entering the camp, 745 (19.5 per cent) were estimated to be under five years of age and a quarter of these had a significant medical problem. There were 290 (7.6 per cent) estimated to be under two, and a quarter of these were judged to be severely malnourished. A high degree of international cooperation between military and civilian medical and relief teams was demonstrated in dealing with this crisis.

Key Words:

• Medical screening
• Medical intervention
• Refugee crisis
• Northern Iraq