Rescue medical activities in the mediterranean migrant crisis

Excerpt

The central Mediterranean route, between Libya and Italy, is considered the most dangerous of the migration pathways to Europe. In 2015, 3771 people died trying to reach Europe’s shores; and there were 4655 deaths or disappearances between January and November 2016 [1]. In response to this extreme situation, in early 2016, Medicines du Monde France (MdM), in partnership with SOS Mediterranee, launched an emergency project on board of the MV Aquarius, a ship adapted for search and rescue operations. We describe here the main clinical features observed during search and rescue activities in the central Mediterranean route. Existing studies present medical activities for migrants upon disembarkation, whereas there is far less information on the medical conditions during rescue operations [2, 3]. …