IS PHYSIOTHERAPY AN ESSENTIAL SERVICE AS PART OF EMERGENCY RESPONSES?
WHO defines emergencies as “a situation impacting the lives and well-being of a large number of people or a significant percentage of a population and requiring substantial multi-sectoral assistance”. Emergencies, such as disaster and/or conflict onset create significant needs in rehabilitation coupled with basic health and rehabilitation services disruptions.
According to global conventions and humanitarian guidelines rehabilitation is an essential health service in emergencies and should begin as early as possible. However, timely deployment of physiotherapists and rehabilitation professionals in emergency teams on the ground is not always ensured and not systematically integrated into emergency preparedness. Consequently, persons in need of early rehabilitation care face preventable complications leading to increased health expenditure and long-term impairments. So, how can we make sure that physiotherapists are included in emergency deployments and involved in rehabilitation at the earliest point?
- Understand the complexity of emergency responses and the importance of preparedness.
- Discuss the challenges and enablers to integrate rehabilitation into emergency response.
- Share challenges faces by rehabilitation professionals once deployed and how to mitigate them.
- Debate how to ensure sustainability of the services implemented during the response.
- Identify what is needed at international level to improve the implication of physiotherapists into emergency response.
