Doing what's best to prepare for the worst

The AMA launches a new journal on public health preparedness and disaster response.

Editorial. July 16, 2007.

The nation -- indeed, the world -- has seen its share of grand-scale disasters in the past decade. Hurricanes. Wildfires. Earthquakes. Tsunamis. SARS. Terrorist attacks.

In each instance, physicians had a critical role to play. It is a guarantee that doctors will be called upon after future deadly disasters strike, whether man-made or wrought by nature. It's the reality of the world we live in.

And it won't be just doctors. Other health care professionals need to work in tandem with physicians to provide care in these extreme times of need. The information and skills needed to do the best job possible are beyond those that doctors acquire in medical school, and beyond those that other health professionals receive in their training. Consequently, a special niche of disaster medicine is emerging.

Recognizing these factors, the American Medical Association is doing its part to ensure that physicians and others in the health care community will be prepared to provide the best care possible to those who find their lives in jeopardy or in upheaval after the next major event.

In late June, the AMA launched the first comprehensive, peer-reviewed journal to emphasize public health preparedness and disaster response for all health care professionals. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness is a quarterly publication that will include best practices, guest commentaries from global leaders in disaster medicine, updates on topics such as public health law and ethics, advocacy, policy and education. The inaugural journal examines topics ranging from what was learned after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing to lifeboat ethics and hospital surge capacity and excess mortality in the Katrina aftermath and physician relocation after the hurricane.