Historically, medical response efforts to large-scale disaster events have highlighted significant variability in the capabilities of responding medical providers and emergency medical teams (EMTs). Analysis of the 2010 Haiti earthquake response found that a number of medical teams were poorly prepared, inexperienced, or lacked the competencies to provide the level of medical care required, highlighting the need for medical team standards.

The World Health Organization (WHO) EMT initiative that followed created minimum team standards for responding international EMTs to improve the quality and timeliness of medical services. At the present time however, there remains a lack of globally recognized minimum competency standards at the level of the individual disaster medical responder, allowing for continued variability in patient care.

This study examines existing competencies for physicians, nurses, and paramedics who are members of deployable disaster response teams.

A scoping review of published English-language articles on existing competencies for physicians, nurses, and paramedics who are members of deployable disaster response teams was performed in Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science Core Collection. A total of 3,474 articles will be reviewed.

Data to be analyzed by October 1, 2024.

There is a need to develop minimum standards for healthcare providers on disaster response teams. Identification of key existing competencies for disaster responders will provide the foundation for the creation of globally recognized minimum competency standards for individuals seeking to join an EMT in the future and will guide training and curricula development.