S. William A. Gunn - Böcker

Defines the field of humanitarian medicine. This book gathers articles and speeches that set out the principles of humanitarian medicine, starting with the idea of health as a human right, and examining topics such as quality of life, torture, and nuclear conflict.

The health professions are continually developing effective techniques of burns and mass casualty management. In parallel, fire prevention and fire-fighting techniques have developed considerably in most communities. It is therefore surprising that, while aiming at the same objective, the two sectors have rarely come together. The Mediterranean Burns Club is a professional organization that brings together persons concerned with burns therapy and with fire safety in all forms. Identified by the United Nations as a premier scientific body in its field within the programme of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, it initiated the first international gathering of specialists in burns as a surgical, clinical problem, and of counterparts dealing with fires as a social, disaster problem. This novel approach and symbiosis proved timely and successful. This, the resulting book, reflects the commitment of all concerned to the reduction of fire disasters and the improvement of burns therapy.

This volume is published with a triple aim: to take a look back over the advances during the ten years of the Mediterranean Burns Club and mark its anniversary; to follow up and strengthen the successful twin­ ning of burns as a clinical, individual illness problem and fires as a societal, disaster management problem; and to look ahead at the per­ spectives of burn care and fire prevention in the fast-approaching new century. The occasion also marks the tenth annual presentation of the prestigious G. Whitaker International Burns Prize, to which the Mediterranean Burns Club acts as the scientific fulcrum. The award is now established as the most distinguished recognition in burns science worldwide, and it is gratifying that the contributions of many of the renowned recipients will be found in this book. This is a sequel to The Management of Mass Burn Casualties and Fire Disasters, which contained the Proceedings of the First International Conference on Burns and Fire Disasters. The book and the conference have fully justified the authors' initial concept that burn specialists, con­ stantly combatting burn disease and promoting rehabilitation of the victims, especially in mass casualty situations, had for too long remained separate from that other essential sector, the fire-fighting authorities and fire prevention systems, whose aim is also the protection of the individual and the promotion of safety. This long overdue synergism has now become reality, and the present volume strengthens this desirable trend.

This book seeks to define the field of humanitarian medicine. It gathers new and previously-published articles and speeches that set out the principles of humanitarian medicine, starting with the idea of health as a human right, and examining topics such as quality of life, torture, and nuclear conflict. The book takes a historical view and its contributors include Nobel laureates Kofi Annan and Joseph Rotblat.

The 2nd edition of the Dictionary of Disaster Medicine and Humanitarian Relief is an essential and practical reference for all those who work in humanitarian relief.  This new, expanded edition presents more than 3000 definitions and acronyms covering the entire multidisciplinary scope of disaster medicine and humanitarian relief, as well as new fields such as climate change and bioterrorism.  As natural disasters, humanitarian emergencies, and infectious disease epidemics increase in frequency and seriousness, this book is an important reference to assist international relief workers communicate with each other and with the media.  The author has served as both the director of Emergency Humanitarian Operations of the World Health Organization, as well as the WHO’s chief of scientific terminology.  As the Director-General Emeritus of the World Health Organization says in the Foreword, “This new expanded edition comes as a timely essential aid against the growing threats of inhuman violence and destructive disasters.”

This volume is published with a triple aim: to take a look back over the advances during the ten years of the Mediterranean Burns Club and mark its anniversary; to follow up and strengthen the successful twin­ ning of burns as a clinical, individual illness problem and fires as a societal, disaster management problem; and to look ahead at the per­ spectives of burn care and fire prevention in the fast-approaching new century. The occasion also marks the tenth annual presentation of the prestigious G. Whitaker International Burns Prize, to which the Mediterranean Burns Club acts as the scientific fulcrum. The award is now established as the most distinguished recognition in burns science worldwide, and it is gratifying that the contributions of many of the renowned recipients will be found in this book. This is a sequel to The Management of Mass Burn Casualties and Fire Disasters, which contained the Proceedings of the First International Conference on Burns and Fire Disasters. The book and the conference have fully justified the authors' initial concept that burn specialists, con­ stantly combatting burn disease and promoting rehabilitation of the victims, especially in mass casualty situations, had for too long remained separate from that other essential sector, the fire-fighting authorities and fire prevention systems, whose aim is also the protection of the individual and the promotion of safety. This long overdue synergism has now become reality, and the present volume strengthens this desirable trend.