Disaster Medicine on the Internet:
Present and future

Assistant Professor, Division of Emergency Medicine
Associate Dean, Faculty of Medicine
The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada

Two of the fundamental differences of Disaster Medicine form many other medical disciplines are:

1. The dependence of a cohesive, reliable, and flexible communication approach in order to coordinate rescue activities and recruit resources, both regionally and remotely.
2. The need t o have as many groups disasters, since occurrences of these events are infrequent, their toll heavy, and their circumstances always unique and worthy of reflection.

The Internet is an ideal medium to address the two issues cited above. Specifically, the Internet offers the following advantages for Disaster Medicine:

• High level of global connectivity and accessibility
• The multimedia nature of communicative environment
• The current existence of many excellent Disaster Medicine related web sites
• The ability to use mirror sites in case a regional web server is down
• The ability to transmit minute-by-minute information and updates, and carry out real time communication:
• Real time consultation with experts
• Coordination of multidisciplinary group
• Rapid u updates of disaster situation to fellow colleagues and the public
• Appeal to the general public for assistance (monetary, materials, manpower, etc.)
• Mobile technology to place a web server at the centre of the disaster scene

• The ability to collaborate globally for academic pursuit
• The ability to educate the general public on issues related to Disaster Medicine
• The ability to assist budding organizations or nations in Disaster Medicine establishment

Some excellent examples of relevant Disaster Medicine related web sites include:

• World Association for Disaster and Emnergency Medicine
  http://www.wadem.org/

• Global Health Disaster Network

http://www1.pitt.edu/~ghdnet/GHDNet/
http://apollo.m.ehime-u.ac.jp/GHDNet/jp/
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (United States)
  http://www.fema.gov/

• European Centre for Disaster Medicine
  http://www.uia.org/uiademo/org/d1543.htｍ

• WHO Emergency and Humanitarian Action
  http://www.who.int/eha/index.htm

• Emergency Information Infrastructure Partnership
  http://www.emforeum.org

• Disaster Center (Commercial Site)
  http://www.disastercenter.com/medical.htm

• Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders)
  http://www.msf.org

• Interactive Weather Information Network
  http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/main.html

Despite the fact that the Internet can contribute tremendously to Disaster Medicine, there are some issues that we need to be aware of and address:

• Communication security and clearance, or how to limit traffic to facilitate professional interaction
• How to have quality assurance and control in Disaster Medicine educational materials on the Internet

• How to work with different groups globally to coordinate and organize in Internet-based Disaster Network

• How to facilitate Internet access and education to budding organizations and nations where technology is developing

• How to coordinate data/experience sharing and academic pursuits globally