Unfolding newer innovations for tomorrow’s emergencies and disasters 2024 (UNITED’24): international disaster medicine conference in Kerala, India

TL;DR

A conference in Kerala, India, focused on disaster medicine and preparedness, training professionals and promoting resilience through partnerships.

Contribution

The first international disaster medicine conference in India aimed to build disaster resilience through academic and government collaboration.

Findings

The conference trained multidisciplinary professionals in disaster management.

A disaster response center was developed in Kerala through strategic partnerships.

Survey results showed sessions on disaster planning and triage ethics were most informative.

Abstract

Kerala faces numerous disasters and has disaster management teams at all levels. However, efforts are needed to train professional staff and educate the general population for effective disaster response.

The Unfolding Newer Innovations for Tomorrow’s Emergencies and Disasters (UNITED’24) conference was hosted by Believers Church Medical College Hospital (BCMCH) in Kerala, India in November 2024. The conference on disaster preparedness included pre-conference asynchronous lectures, and in-person didactics, panels, exercises, and a mock drill.

Of the 434 conference attendees, 323 completed the anonymous post conference survey. Respondents were predominantly between 22 and 29 years-old (54%), female (68%), from Kerala (97%), and medical or nursing students and residents (75%). The top five most informative sessions identified by the respondents were on disaster planning and response (57%), triage ethics (51%), building resilience post-disasters (50%), climate change (35%), and the disaster mock drill (32%).

This first international disaster medicine conference in India trained multidisciplinary professionals in disaster management and facilitated development of a disaster response center in Kerala through strategic academic and government partnerships contributing to a more disaster-resilient India.

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