Hospital preparedness and response to the Freetown oil tanker explosion - A case study of A Tertiary Hospital in Sierra Leone

Oil tanker explosions are a fairly common cause of disaster in sub–Saharan Africa. These disasters may have secondary effects on health service delivery due to collapse of routine health service provision as staff concentrate on taking care of the disaster victims. This might suggest that our hospitals and health systems are not fully prepared to cope with these situations. The article aims to share our experience in managing tanker explosions in terms of disaster preparedness and response, access to drugs and medical supplies, access to laboratory facilities and the medical and surgical problems commonly encountered as well as possible recommendations.