Forced Convergence: Public Health Meets Disaster Medicine

Summary: Disaster Medicine emerged from the modest roots of response and resuscitation. More recently, the focus has expanded to include preparedness, prevention, and recovery, pursued via the mechanisms of risk reduction, capacity building, and research. The scope has broadened from treatment to health, with a significant rise in the role of public health. Recent pandemics, global population growth, human migration and dislocation, urbanization, climate change, warfighting and conflict, and novel disease emergence have forced a convergence of disaster medicine and public health. More than ever, a trans-disciplinary approach to education, training, planning, and practice is indicated. Successful implementation around these complex challenges requires large-scale collaboration, trust, and meaningful engagement. It will also be driven by a renewed perspective, explored via a practical exercise. This is designed to bring together the capability, positions, data, and power that often sit in separate institutional boundaries. Mass Gathering and Event Medicine