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Lessons Observed from Early Rehabilitation in the Armenia 2023 Emergency Response and the Emergency Medical Teams
Zhanna Harutyunyan1, April Gamble2,3, Liana Barseghyan4
1World Health Organization Country Office in Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia.
Objective:
This brief report explores rehabilitation in the 2023 Armenia emergency response following a fuel depot explosion, injuring over 300 people and overwhelming the national healthcare system.
Methods:
It is based on a grey literature review, lessons observed, and secondary analysis of publicly available data shared with the Emergency Medical Team Coordination Cell, regional reports and guidelines, and the authors' observations and reflections.
Results:
The World Health Organization emphasizes rehabilitation in burn care emergencies. Challenges included a shortage of skilled rehabilitation providers, limited guidance to support continuity of care, and inadequate burn care equipment. The United Kingdom's Emergency Medical Team and Samaritan's Purse were the only EMTs offering rehabilitation, delivering over 386 interventions. These 2 EMTs and WHO Armenia, with the request of the Ministry of Health of Armenia, delivered just-in-time training, equipping multidisciplinary health care providers with burn rehabilitation skills.
Conclusions:
The lessons observed emphasize the importance of ensuring rehabilitation providers, clinical protocols, and equipment are integrated into acute care facilities, national emergency plans, and EMT deployments. Also, just-in-time training should be prioritized and aligned with workforce mobilization, adopting a competency-based approach to strengthen health systems for future emergencies.
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