Developing the ISPRM registry of rehabilitation disaster relief experts Jan D. Reinhardt, PhD; James E. Gosney, MD; Andrew J. Haig, MD; & Jian’an Li, MD

Background Natural disasters => new disabilities and existing disabilities Physical Rehabilitation required However, rehabilitation perspective often underdeveloped in disaster settings Scarcity of existing rehab resources and professionals make external/international assistance necessary

Background (continued) However: How identify deployable experts – with expertise in disaster rehabilitation – best suited to the setting in question? => Database of rehabilitation professionals with expertise in disaster relief including Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) WHO DAR-ISPRM collaboration plan

Background (continued) “ISPRM will, moreover, compile a database of international experts for PRM in disaster relief, which may provide a PRM professional volunteer team when it is needed in any region of the world. In that ISPRM will closely collaborate with relevant NGOs, other academic organizations and WHO offices”. (WHO-DAR/ISPRM 2011)

Objective Establish a database of PRM/rehabilitation experts in natural disaster that can be used to identify deployable individuals/teams in the case of international disaster International Disaster UN/WHO Agency/NGO responsible for disability & rehab ISPRM disaster rehab experts’ database Deployment of rehab experts/teams

What is a database? More than a survey … “A database is an organized collection of data. The data is typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality (for example, the availability of rooms in hotels), in a way that supports processes requiring this information (for example, finding a hotel with vacancies).” See:

What is a database? - continued Functions: Input (forms like surveys etc.) Storing (protected server, backups, etc.) Retrieving (search masks, structured requests) Managing information (update, modify, aggregate, etc.)

What is a database? - continued Database Management System (DBMS), e.g. SQL: Data definition Update Retrieval Administration

ISPRM – Rehab Disaster Experts DB Data definition: Variables – Needs of end-user … – Relevant info for monitoring

ISPRM – Rehab Disaster Experts DB Variables – Demographics Name (surname, first) Gender Date of birth Country(ies) of citizenship Country of residence Religion Contact information (phone, , address) Hospital and/or university affiliation(s) Current position(s) Professional rehabilitation organization affiliation

ISPRM – Rehab Disaster Experts DB Variables – Professional qualifications Emergency training qualification Disaster training qualifications Medical/specialty qualifications – MD (If yes, years of experience) – PRM residency qualification (if yes, years of experience) – Registration – Licensing Upload CVs, diploma etc. «FMTs will adhere to professional guidelines: all their staff must be registered to practice in home country and have licence for the work they are assigned to by the agency» (WHO-FMT Working Group 2013)

ISPRM – Rehab Disaster Experts DB Variables – Disaster relief qualifications Disaster experience (up to 10 disasters) Disaster 1-10 (multiple entries possible) – Name of country – Type of disaster – Date – Sponsoring organization – Medical role – Traumatic disabling conditions treated: » fracture » spinal cord injury (SCI) » amputation, etc.

ISPRM – Rehab Disaster Experts DB Variables – Deployability Clearance by employer Length of time willing to serve Native language(s) English-skills Other language(s) Health restrictions Dietary restrictions (describe) Other deployment considerations (describe) Motivation ( Describe reason(s) for registering including your feelings about working with people from different backgrounds)

ISPRM – Rehab Disaster Experts DB Data definition: Relations

ISPRM – Rehab Disaster Experts DB Update: Inserting data: Initial survey of ISPRM membership Modifying and deleting data: Repeated Surveys, online self- entry of users … Challenges: Reaching the expert population, correctness/accuracy of information (verification through institutions?)

ISPRM – Rehab Disaster Experts DB Retrieval of info: Search mask Suited to the needs of the end-user Easy to use Practical usefulness of eventual output, i.e. list of deployable experts

ISPRM – Rehab Disaster Experts DB Administration: Registering and monitoring users, enforcing data security, monitoring performance, maintaining data integrity, dealing with concurrency control, and recovering information if the system fails. Needs ongoing professional programming and monitoring Needs secure server (https) involving firewalls etc. Needs ethical statement on data protection Needs mechanisms for backup

Database & Network Web-Server SwiSCI- Database MySQL Internet php Database Administrator Disaster Relief Experts phpMyAdmin Login (password-protected) End-user Login (password-protected) Login (password-protected) Firewall- Protected https (tap-proof) encrypted

ISPRM – Rehab Disaster Experts DB Administration: Potential links to other existing databases, e.g. CRED natural disaster database, FMT database, ISPRM membership database …

Related Projects DART certification UN disab experts, etc.: ISCoS, Other rehab NGOs

ISPRM – Rehab Disaster Experts DB Budget: -Infrastructure: -Webserver -Database-server -Firewall, backup system etc. -Database administrator/manager -Programming (sql, html, php), definition of database (2 months) -Development of forms for entry and retrieval (2 months) -Monitoring (1 day per months) -Update (1 day per week)

ISPRM – Rehab Disaster Experts DB Outlook/next steps: Think big, start with small steps Obtain feedback from responder organizations on variables Initial ISPRM member survey Identify institution to host database Write up grant proposal

Thank You!