This 2-day forum was chaired by the Macau University of Science and Technology: Faculty of Health Sciences and organized by the Macau Healthcare Management and Promotion Association (MHMPA) on the 15th and 16th December 2012 in Macau SAR, China.
This was our tenth such forum, titled “Challenges and Controversies in Disaster Medical Response.”
Top distinguished scholars and scientists travelled many thousands of miles for this meaningful event. They have handled some of the most horrible disasters of recent times: the tragedy of the World Trade center twin towers in New York, the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the destruction of the Haiti earthquake, etc.
Dr. Susan Briggs, Director of the International Trauma and Disaster Institute at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Briggs shared her experiences in Mass Casualty Management and Biological Agents.
Dr. Roy Alson, the Supervising Medical Officer of the US Government’s Specialty Disaster Medical Assistance Teams gave us insights about Chemical Agents in major disasters. Based in North Carolina, he is also an expert in Incident Command Systems and Crush Injuries, such as are common in earthquake and hurricane calamities.
This strong delegation also included a new faculty member, Dr. David Lawlor, an expert in Massachusetts General Hospital taught our front line medical providers in Macau on the topic of Responses to Disasters.
Experts from Hong Kong also presented at the forum, they included Dr. Jimmy Chan, the President of the Hong Kong Association for Conflict and Catastrophe Medicine, and Dr. Chow Yuk-Yin, the President of the Hong Kong College of Orthopedic Surgeons and the Vice-President of the Hong Kong Association for Conflict and Catastrophe Medicine, conducted workshops in Blast and Extremity Injuries.
Dr Lao Weng I, Council Member of Macau Society of Emergency and Critical Care gave an overview of Macau’s current state of emergency response, and what prevention measures we’ve learned from contamination from the Fukushima meltdown, and the rescue missions of the Sichuan earthquake.
“We welcome our good friends from the US and HK to lecture us and definitely empower our frontline medical professionals and stakeholders in our healthcare industry here in Macau. This will ultimately give our doctors and health care workers a better understanding of these issues in preparedness of major incidents response” said Dr. Manson Fok, Dean of Faculty of Health Sciences at the Macau University of Science and Technology.
This meaningful event was supported by the Ministry of Health, PRC as well as a list of outstanding healthcare organizations and Portuguese speaking associations here in Macau.