Meaningful medical data are crucial for response teams in the aftermath of disaster. Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems have revolutionized healthcare by facilitating real-time data collection, storage, and analysis. These capabilities are particularly relevant for post-disaster and austere environments. fEMR, an EMR system designed for such settings, enables rapid documentation of patient information, treatments, and outcomes, ensuring critical data capture.

Data collected through fEMR can be leveraged to perform comprehensive monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of emergency medical services, assess operational needs and efficiency, and support public health syndromic surveillance.

Analyzing these data identifies patterns and trends or assesses treatment effectiveness. This insight facilitates data-driven decision-making and the optimization of medical protocols. fEMR’s real-time reports enhance situational awareness and operational coordination among response units. The aggregated data can detect trends, classify case-mix, and facilitate after-action reviews, contributing to continuous improvement in emergency preparedness and response strategies. The system also supports fulfilling reporting requirements for health agencies and funding organizations, ensuring accountability and transparency.

EMRs like fEMR are vital for emergency response teams, supporting immediate patient care and ongoing M&E of disaster response efforts. Its robust data management capabilities support evidence-based practices and strategic planning, improving the effectiveness of emergency medical services in disaster scenarios.

The effective use of fEMR in disaster response scenarios highlights its significance in enhancing operational efficiency, ensuring accountability, and improving the overall effectiveness of emergency medical services through comprehensive data management and real-time reporting.

Planning for WYD2023 by INEM began in July 2022, leading to the formation of the WYD2023 Taskforce in September. Over 90 meetings established key collaborations with entities like the Local Organizing Committee, Ministry of Health, Security Forces, Municipality of Lisbon, and His Holiness’ Security Team.

Share knowledge and lessons learnt from planning WYD 2023 and the PT EMT’s role in this event.

Analysis and reflection on lessons learnt from PT EMT’s experience in Portugal’s WYD 2023.

The event’s comprehensive risk assessment anticipated 1.5 million pilgrims over 12 days, guiding strategic and operational response plans. Reinforcements to the Prehospital Medical Emergency Integrated System included ALS Emergency Vehicles and support for main events.

The plan addressed satellite events with varying populations. Health care responses were organized into three levels: aid stations and mobile teams from Pilgrim support and the Portuguese Red Cross; Advanced Medical Posts; and EMT Type 1. Rigorous record-keeping covered admissions, clinical records, vaccination forms, birth certificates, death verifications, informed consents, narcotics controls, and personal belongings.

The response mobilized 500 staff, 124 mobile teams, 94 first aid sites, 4 EMT Type 1, 17 Advanced Medical Posts, and 7 “Calm” tents. This effort assisted 4376 patients within WYD sites, 253 outside, and 153 were evacuated to hospitals.

Key lessons from WYD2023 include the importance of collaborative planning from local to national levels, meticulous record-keeping, diverse logistical and operations levels, and establishing a WHO-classified EMT-based response. Flexibility and dynamic planning were essential for adaptability, and psychological support was integrated across all areas.

The US National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) deploys specialized teams for acute trauma, pediatric care, mortuary services, and veterinary response to manage various disaster scenarios. These teams offer potential models for enhancing the WHO Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) program’s international humanitarian and disaster response capabilities.

This study analyzes the structure, effectiveness, and lessons from NDMS specialized teams, assessing their applicability to the WHO EMT program. It aims to provide recommendations for developing specialized teams for international disaster medical response.

A comprehensive review of NDMS team deployments is conducted, focusing on organization, training, utilization, strategies, and outcomes. Data is collected from NDMS reports and debriefings. Comparative analysis identifies best practices and key lessons for the WHO EMT program.

Preliminary findings indicate that specialized teams effectively address specific disaster needs. Strengths include specialized training, rapid deployment, and targeted medical care. Lessons from NDMS emphasize the importance of specialized skills, interdisciplinary coordination, and flexible operations, enhancing generalized response capabilities. These insights support recommendations for the WHO EMT program to develop specialized teams for diverse humanitarian and disaster challenges.

NDMS specialized teams provide a valuable model for the WHO EMT program. Adopting and adapting this model can enhance the WHO EMT program’s capacity to offer specialized support in international humanitarian and disaster medical responses. Developing trauma, pediatric, mortuary, and veterinary teams within the WHO EMT framework can improve global disaster response effectiveness and efficiency.

The Philippines, being prone to natural disasters, often faces challenges in securing real-time data, hindering effective decision-making. In response, the Philippine Emergency Medical Assistance Team (PEMAT) of Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and Sanitarium (DJNRMHS) developed the PEMAT Information System (PIS) to enhance real-time reporting and support the functions of EMT-Type 1 Fixed facilities during disaster responses. The PIS was successfully launched and fully implemented during the 7.8 Magnitude Earthquake in Türkiye in February 2023.

The PIS aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Type-1 facilities, improve healthcare service quality and patient safety, and deliver real-time data to stakeholders like the Emergency Medical Teams Coordination Cell (EMTCC) and local government agencies for informed planning and action. It also assists in patient tracking during disaster response and recovery phases.

During the Türkiye earthquake response from February 11-24, 2023, PEMAT used the PIS for data collection and reporting per international standards like the International Classification of Diseases and the EMT Minimum Data Set. Timely reports on patient numbers were provided to the EMTCC.

PEMAT catered to 1,022 patients, primarily aged 18-64 (68.59%), with a majority (54.60%) being male. The top reasons for consultation were Acute Upper Respiratory Infection (36.30%), Minor Injury (6.36%), and Skin Disease (6.07%). Notably, 74.16% of cases were unrelated to the earthquake. Timely reporting to the EMT MDS Portal earned commendation from the EMTCC.

The PIS significantly improved healthcare service quality and provided crucial real-time data for decision-making during disaster response and recovery.

In the context of war in Ukraine, a simultaneous emergency struck following the breach of the Kakhovka dam on 6 June 2023 and acutely stressed the health system. Extensive flooding, water shortages, drought and widespread environmental damage in several regions occurred. Over 4,000 people were evacuated from their homes and several hospitals transferred patients elsewhere.

To explore if the HR health surge needs of the flood affected health facilities in Kherson, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia were met over the 6-month period.

The Ukrainian Scientific and Practical Center for Emergency Medical Care and Disaster Medicine (CDMU) of the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Ukraine, centrally managed the recruitment, onboarding and deployment of all HR health staff and surge requests over the 6 months project implementation period. Several meetings were held with the MoH regarding national regulation and a mechanism to deploy healthcare workers was established.

A total of 340 healthcare staff (216 doctors and 124 nurses) were identified through the Regional Departments of Health (according to MoH Order. 1597) or through self-referrals. In order of demand, 165 requests (120 doctors, 45 nurses) were submitted by healthcare facilities from (1) Kherson, (2) Mykolaiv and (3) Zaporizhzhia. All requests were met, aside from certain specialisms (i.e. neurosurgeon). The length of time for surge ranged from 3 to 6 months.

Despite the lack of regulatory documents and mechanism for engaging and deploying healthcare workers, the surge needs were successfully met for the Kakhovka dam breach emergency, although future efforts are required to attract certain specialisms to deploy.

In February 2024, the Philippine Emergency Medical Assistance Team (PEMAT), specializing in mass casualty incidents and rapid medical response, actively engaged in a comprehensive emergency preparedness exercise at Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport (DZR).

Along with various response teams, this simulation assesses PEMAT’s management and capacity-building skills, with specific emphasis on the team’s efficiency in organizing emergency medical response, triage, treatment, and collaboration.

Before the simulation, PEMAT conducted a mass casualty management orientation and tabletop exercises for all participating teams. The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) was in charge of evaluating the drill’s overall organization, communication, and rapid execution. During the drill, PEMAT oversaw triage and treatment operations from an advanced medical station, encompassing a variety of realistic scenarios.

As a result, PEMAT established a legal framework for collaboration among emergency response teams in Tacloban, thereby fostering an unstructured approach to disaster response. PEMAT demonstrated its capacity to manage mass casualty incidents by showcasing its abilities in assessment, intervention, and management. The simulation revealed that the respondents displayed a strong knowledge base. However, this emphasized the importance of continuous training and refining skills, especially in managing mass casualties, to achieve the optimal level of preparedness.

The simulation revealed useful insights for enhancing resource allocation and communication protocols in high-pressure scenarios. In conclusion, the PEMAT exercise underscored the vital necessity of continuous training and skill development to guarantee effective disaster response. By incorporating these insights into future training, emergency responders can further improve their readiness and coordination during mass casualty incidents.

The WHO’s prompt declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern shepherded an effective coordinated response to contain the epidemic. In order to coordinate better the response to epidemics, outbreaks and disasters, the Niger Ministry of Health and the WHO Country Office established the Rapid Response team.

The aim of this study is to describe the experiences and challenges during the Implementation of Emergency Preparedness and Response-Rapid Response Team.

The study used a mixed methods approach with quantitative and qualitative data from a literature review of the WHO Country Office coordination mechanisms and the Niger Public Health Emergency Operational Centre (PHEOC). The study was conducted at the PHEOC of Niger during 12 months from September 2022 to September 2023.

The program began with the evaluation of Niger’s capacities and capacity building of teams to prepare, detect, and respond to public health emergencies within 24 hours of an alert. The team of multi-disciplinary and multi-sector experts was identified, selected, and trained using a series of training modules. The team was composed of a total of 50 experts from six sectoral ministries. The average age is 49.94 (±5.9) years with extremes ranging from 33 to 56 years. The sex ratio is 0.35. The team has acquired the experience of being deployed in four regions of the country and six districts as part of the response to six public health events.

The rapid response team has made it possible to acquire not only the technical and operational skills, but also financial, human, and logistical capacities to respond rapidly when a public health emergency occurs.

This study is a scoping review to identify literature pertinent to the question: “What are the criteria for deployment of the United States National Guard (USNG) to domestic sudden-onset natural disasters (SODs)?” As this question relies on factors across many disciplines—legal, medical, technical, cultural—and as there is no foundational body of academic literature or unified governmental or USNG policy addressing this question, a scoping review was designed to identify the body of literature on which further research and policy decisions surrounding this question may be based.

To perform a scoping review identifying the criteria for the deployment of the United States National Guard (USNG) to domestic sudden-onset natural disasters to identify the body of literature on which further research and policy decisions may be based.

On January 23, 2023 a modified PRISMA-ScR search was performed using an online search engine of the following databases: Academic Search Premier, Google Scholar, JSTOR, PubMed, Web of Science, and WorldCat. The inclusion criteria included the involvement of the USNG response to U.S. domestic SOD. Non-SOD results were excluded. Results from all years and of any type of literature were considered and were limited to the English language. First, titles and abstracts were screened by 2 independent reviewers. Then, a full-text review was performed by 2 independent reviewers. Finally, data were extracted from included texts by 2 independent reviewers. A third reviewer resolved any discrepancies at each stage. This study did not require approval of an institutional review board.

Out of the 886 results identified by the original search, after the complete review process, 34 sources were relevant to the research question. Fifteen criteria for the deployment of the USNG to SODs were identified. Overwhelmed local responders, utility failure, the need for the provision of security, and the need for logistical coordination were the most commonly identified criteria. Hurricanes were the most common SOD addressed in the included literature, and most results were event reports.

This modified PRISMA-ScR identified a foundation on which elected officials, USNG leadership, and the larger disaster response community may develop policies and disaster response plans to optimize available resources through the activation of the USNG when responding to SODs.

The WHO endorsed the Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Minimum Data Set (MDS) as a real-time data collection and reporting tool during health emergencies and disasters in 2017. It was for the first time activated in 2019 during Cyclone Idai in Mozambique. Since then, it has been used in 16 countries during various events. However, no assessment on data quality collected via MDS has been conducted.

This study aimed to assess data completeness using data from Cyclone Idai.

We analyzed 282 daily reports containing 18,468 patient consultations from 14 international EMTs between 2019/03/27 and 2019/07/12. We considered data incomplete if inputs for demographic information, health events, outcomes, and relation to disaster were lower than the total number of patient consultations. We calculated the percentage of missing values for MDS items. Logistic regression identified associations between data incompleteness and EMT type.

Completeness of information on team and location was 100%. Incompleteness rates were 7.1% for sex and age, 37.2% for health events, 48.9% for outcomes, and 41.8% for the relation of health events to the disaster. Type 1 Fixed EMTs reported less complete data compared to Type 1 Mobile and Type 2 EMTs. Classified EMTs were more likely to report complete data.

Overall, MDS daily report completeness needs improvement. Type 1 Fixed EMTs may have lower completeness due to busier schedules, while Type 1 Mobile EMTs benefit from more effective just-in-time training. Type 2 teams, being less busy, achieve more accurate data entry. Training for data collection is essential for better data completeness.

Addressing the evolving demands of global emergency medical operations necessitates tools that enhance information sharing, learning, and operational transparency among Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs). AUSMAT (Australian Medical Assistance Teams) identified a critical gap in accessible, comprehensive resources to support these needs across various EMT deployments worldwide.

The primary objective was to support AUSMAT team members in remaining current and up-to-date while facilitating efficient information sharing. This toolbox, accessible to any user, integrates information in a collaborative platform.

An innovative online toolbox was developed through collaboration with experienced AUSMAT personnel. This toolbox, accessible to any user, integrates information in a collaborative platform. It aims to demonstrate EMT principles by providing AUSMAT’s operating documents, technical information on logistics (including technical video’s), plans, and resources. Additionally, the toolbox incorporates the lessons AUSMAT has identified and implemented and content on specialist skill areas.

Initial evaluations through Team Member training demonstrate that the toolbox significantly enhances team knowledge, transfer of critical information, and operational transparency. It offers a unique resource for teams regionally entering the EMT initiative or strengthening current practices or technical capability.

The pilot of the AUSMAT Toolbox proposes that online sharing of classification evidence supports greater Team Member understanding and offers a unique opportunity to develop a community of practice globally, utilizing a broader platform that all teams can contribute to.

Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) are essential during emergencies. To optimize efficiency and readiness, the Saudi DMAT established comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) so that it could pursue with vigorous implementation the goals outlined in Saudi Vision 2030 and the Ministry of Health’s strategic plans. These operational models, incident management systems, and procedures govern team deployment, operations, and demobilization in disaster response settings.

This paper discusses the development and implementation of new standardized protocols for DMATs in Saudi Arabia, highlighting challenges, strategic decisions, and enhancements in team preparedness and performance.

The S-DMAT SoPs were developed through a detailed review of international standards and best practices, tailored to Saudi Arabia’s specific needs. Stakeholder consultations, iterative revisions, and pilot testing ensured the medical response teams are knowledgeable and ready for efficient, timely, and resource-adequate deployment.

The standardized protocols significantly improved S-DMATs’ readiness and operational performance. Enhanced coordination with local and international agencies, better resource allocation, and effective incident management were achieved. The SoPs provided a structured approach to deployment, triage, and patient care, ensuring high-quality medical assistance in critical situations. Evaluations showed that S-DMAT consistently met or exceeded key performance indicators, demonstrating quick mobilization and efficient execution.

Establishing standardized SoPs for S-DMAT has been pivotal in advancing disaster response in Saudi Arabia. The protocol development process emphasizes maintaining relevant training, meticulous review, and flexibility in disaster preparedness. These results offer valuable insights for future improvements to DMAT protocols and contribute to global best practices in disaster medical response.

In March 2023, Vanuatu faced severe impacts from twin tropical cyclones Judy and Kevin. This state of emergency necessitated the activation of the National Health Emergency Operations Centre (NHEOC) and the Emergency Medical Team Coordination Cell (EMTCC) to coordinate deployment of both national and international EMT responses.

The primary objectives were to provide life-saving services, ensure essential medical support, maintain minimum standards of healthcare, and improve coordination among the various health teams and sectors involved in the disaster response.

The EMTCC managed the deployment of over five National EMTs and four International EMTs. Reception and Departure Centers (RDCs) were set up at entry ports for team verification and briefing. Daily Minimum Data Set (MDS) reporting facilitated consistent monitoring and planning. The EMTCC coordinated logistics, transport, ration supplies, and implemented a medivac process for patient referrals.

Over five National EMTs, including medical officers, midwives, psychosocial support, logistics, and nurses, were deployed, serving at least 1,638 patients. RDCs efficiently processed international teams, and daily MDS reports supported informed decision-making. Collaboration with international partners was effective, and a medivac process ensured timely patient transfers. Despite logistical delays, financial constraints, and human resource shortages, the coordinated efforts led to significant positive outcomes.

The EMT deployment in Vanuatu highlighted the importance of well-coordinated emergency responses. Key lessons include the need for standardized tools and procedures, continuous training, improved financial processes, and stronger logistical arrangements. Future recommendations emphasize dedicated budgets, pre-positioned resources, clear SOPs, and enhanced coordination to improve EMT resilience and efficiency in disaster scenarios.