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EDITOR'S CHOICE: Fiona Godlee Responding to disasters BMJ 2008; 336: 0 [Full text]

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Doctors in Disasters

Colin F Thompson   (16 May 2008)

Doctors in Disasters 16 May 2008
Colin F Thompson, Diabetologist and General Physician Mulazmin Medical Center, Omdurman, Sudan Send response to journal: Re: Doctors in Disasters	Dear Editor. I have a different understanding of the BMJ's 'impressive' consensus why doctors should not go themselves to assist in a disaster (http://bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/336/7653/0?etoc). One writer had complained of the difficulty in finding an organisation with whom she could go. The other two urged doctors to go with an experienced organisation to avoid many of the pitfalls (2005;330:263, doi: 10.1136/bmj.330.7485.263; 2006;332:244, doi: 10.1136/bmj.332.7535.244; 2005;330:261, doi: 10.1136/bmj.330.7485.261-a). I therefore think the BMJ's recommendation might be that doctors shouldn't go alone. My other concern is about the warning from the UK Foreign Office against all travel to a country like Sudan, and its effect. The BMJ's reaction to it is that we can therefore only assist financially and morally. I understand the Foreign Office's reason for such a warning. It can be messy trying to extract someone from a foreign country. But the mess at the time of a disaster, by definition, far outweighs this. I think many well-trained doctors and nurses, who are prepared to work with an established experienced organisation, would do well to ignore the BMJ's and the Foreign Office's advice. Colin Thompson Competing interests: None declared