Trauma/stroke centres optimise acute 24/7/365 surgical/critical care in high-income countries (HICs). Concepts from low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) offer additional cost-effective healthcare strategies for limited-resource settings when combined with the trauma/stroke centre concept. Mass casualty centres (MCCs) integrate resources for both routine and emergency care—from prevention to acute care to rehabilitation. Integration of the various healthcare systems—governmental, non-governmental and military—is key to avoid both duplication and gaps. With input from LMIC and HIC personnel of various backgrounds—trauma and subspecialty surgery, nursing, information technology and telemedicine, and healthcare administration—creative solutions to the challenges of expanding care (both daily and disaster) are developed. MCCs are evolving initially in Chile and Pakistan. Technologies for cost-effective healthcare in LMICs include smartphone apps (enhance prehospital care) to electronic data collection and analysis (quality improvement) to telemedicine and drones/robots (support of remote regions and resource optimisation during both daily care and disasters) to resilient, mobile medical/surgical facilities (eg, battery-operated CT scanners). The co-ordination of personnel (within LMICs, and between LMICs and HICs) and the integration of cost-effective advanced technology are features of MCCs. Providing quality, cost-effective care 24/7/365 to the 5 billion who lack it presently makes MCCs an appealing means to achieve the healthcare-related United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.

It has been well-documented recently that 5 billion people globally lack surgical care. Also well-documented is the need to improve mass casualty disaster response. Many of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030—healthcare and economic milestones—require significant improvement in global surgical care, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries. Trauma/stroke centres evolved in high-income countries with evidence that 24/7/365 surgical and critical care markedly improved morbidity and mortality for trauma and stroke and for cardiovascular events, difficult childbirth, acute abdomen. Duplication of emergency services, especially civilian and military, often results in suboptimal, expensive care. By combining all healthcare resources within the ongoing healthcare system, more efficient care for both individual emergencies and mass casualty situations can be achieved. We describe progress in establishing mass casualty centres in Chile and Pakistan. In both locations, planning among the stakeholders (primarily civilian and military) indicates the feasibility of such integrated surgical and emergency care. We also review other programmes and initiatives to provide integrated mass casualty disaster response. Integrated mass casualty centres are a feasible means to improve both day-to-day surgical care and mass casualty disaster response. The humanitarian aspect of mass casualty disasters facilitates integration among stakeholders—from local healthcare systems to military resources to international healthcare organisations. The benefits of mass casualty centres—both healthcare and economic—can facilitate achieving the 2030 UN SDGs.

Addressing the health needs among refugee populations requires an approach that recognizes social, cultural and language issues and has a platform for interventions that actively use the strengths and competencies from a variety of healthcare disciplines. An interprofessional practice model was implemented in 2012 at the University of Louisville as part of a program aimed at providing age-appropriate vaccines for newly arriving refugees in the Louisville community. During 2012-2014, the program involved more than 35 faculty, 22 residents and fellows, 278 students, 28 support staff and 16 researchers in collaborative work representing nursing, medicine, public health, pharmacy, and social services disciplines in addition to students and faculty from business and engineering. As of early 2015, more than 20,000 doses of vaccine have been safely provided to more than 5,000 refugees. The processes and outcomes have been deemed as beneficial by the refugees and healthcare providers. This type of interprofessional practice model may serve as a deliberative learning platform for other refugee health services.

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Results: CRT on the finger pulp and sternum was shown to be increased following the hypothermic conditions, but not on the forehead. Skin temperature on the three sites followed the same pattern, with the forehead being virtually unchanged. Tests performed during LBNP revealed an apparent effect on CRT following the simulated blood loss, with prolonged CRT for all sites tested. Discussion: A successful methodology for objective assessment of CRT was developed, which was validated on healthy volunteers following hypothermia or simulated blood loss. Ongoing work will investigate a combination of hypothermia and blood loss to more accurately simulate the prehospital setting.