INTRODUCTION: Recent years have seen an increase in disaster situations worldwide. There is no current international description of disaster preparedness (DP) among European EPs. OBJECTIVE: ) analysis. METHODS: An international survey-based observational study of DP, using a KArP-model, was conducted between April and June 2024 among post-residency EPs in 9 European countries. The respondents' levels of education, training, and experience in disaster medicine (DM) were described. Correlations were sought between the participants' characteristics and DP scores. RESULTS: Results from 813 participants were collected. Mean rP-score was 66,54% (SD 14,99) and mean KArP-score was 71,83% (SD 12,45). Only half of the participants reported a dedicated practical DM training during specialty training, whereas almost 25% reported no DM training. Only 57% reported full-scale disaster drills in the previous year. Significant differences were found from one country to another in education and training in DM and in DP scores. DP scores were lower among pediatric EPs. CONCLUSIONS: Improving and harmonizing individual and collective DP in European EPs is crucial. Simple checklists aimed at optimizing individual and collective DP were proposed.
Metge et al. (Thu,) studied this question.