Lessons learned from Indonesia: an outline.

The U.S. response to the December 26, 2004 tsunami in Indonesia heralded modifications of our responses to previous natural disasters, modifications that were highly successful and should be refined and repeated. These included seamless hand-off of responsibility from a line response unit to medical; the use of civilian medical practitioners working closely with military and public health service personnel aboard a Navy vessel; close prior communication and planning with the local medical, governmental, and U.N. establishment ashore before the arrival of the military medical unit; and with both line and medical units working closely in support of established ashore U.N. agencies instead of performing independent actions. The success of this total approach was unquestioned, and the lessons learned should be utilized fully in planning future disaster responses, both foreign and domestic.