Disaster Management and the Role of Oral Maxillofacial Surgeons

"Disaster" the word itself suggests an event resulting in great loss and misfortune. In this developing world, India is becoming more powerful and is shining across the world. But we are still left to deal with various disasters, so that no harm comes to mankind. India has the occasional national disaster to which we have to promptly respond. Like the rest of the world, India has become a terror prone nation and recent attacks since the last decades affected not only the function but also it made citizens insecure. As we are in a large nation so, no matter how large a disaster it may be; we have to overcome it. The oral and maxillofacial region in a human body is very delicate with complicated anatomy, which decides the life of a human being. The management of disaster is a multitask approach, in which maxillofacial surgeon plays an important role. It is a very difficult task to operate in disaster zone. It is essential for a surgeon to make quick and important decisions under stressful conditions. Usually the surgeries are performed in a well-equipped hospital but, when it comes to disaster zone the surgeon have to treat the patient with a minimal armamentarium available within a fraction of time. The surgical competence in a disaster field is an alarming situation. Disaster management itself is not an alarming situation but the time management is important for better outcomes. A surgeon however should be trained, so that he should not miss injuries for better outcomes along with personal safety. The article discusses about disaster management strategy and guidelines for both oral maxillofacial surgeons and the statuary body to make maxillofacial surgeon as part of disaster management team for better outcomes.