What Is Disaster Medicine and Why Is It Important?

Communities of all sizes can face crises that have a significant impact on its citizens and their ability to provide standard services that allow it to function. When these challenges arise, it’s vital to have trained professionals who are equipped to handle public health emergencies and mitigate damage. As a result, disaster medicine has become an emerging field to help societies plan for and manage serious situations that could potentially have a devastating impact.

If you’re unfamiliar with this field, here’s an overview of disaster medicine, what types of healthcare providers work in this field, why it’s important, and key steps for entering the field.

What Is Disaster Medicine?

Disaster medicine is a branch of healthcare focused on assessing public health risks, planning for future disasters, and implementing emergency strategies to aid recovery.

“Disaster medicine covers a wide array of activities around disasters,” says Stephen Wood, program director for the extreme medicine certificate program at Northeastern University’s Bouvé College of Health Sciences. “It can include man-made disasters like terrorist attacks or natural disasters like tsunamis and hurricanes.”

Some additional crises that can warrant disaster medicine include those caused by human error or even equipment failures leading to disasters such as food or water contamination, power outages, and dam failures.

Effective disaster medicine requires addressing the various phases of the disaster cycle, including planning, mitigation, response, and recovery. Based on past experiences, response teams do their best to prepare for expected issues and provide emergency medical relief in emergency situations.

Where Can You Work in Disaster Medicine?

The field of disaster medicine offers diverse opportunities for healthcare providers and other emergency response professionals. “There are lots of different organizations people might have an interest in,” continues Wood.

In addition to these positions, there are plenty of volunteer opportunities available on response teams in areas that suffer from recurring disasters, such as tsunamis, hurricanes, and wildfires. Volunteers are often tasked with gathering and distributing resources, rescuing and communicating with survivors, and cleaning up or rebuilding wreckage.

For example, he cites state- or federal-based agency teams—such as Disaster Medical Assistance Teams—as one of the most common career options. These response teams are specialized units that respond to disasters and provide medical support to affected communities on a local, regional, tribal, or national level. In addition, DMAT teams are leveraged at high-profile federal events where threats to national security are a concern.

For those who want to pursue a career in government, but have more interest on the administrative side, working for government organizations—such as Homeland Security— allows you to contribute to policy development, resource allocation, and strategic planning around disaster response. However, these roles often require specialized knowledge in emergency management and public health as well.

Wood also recommends various roles in humanitarian organizations, such as Team Rubicon. Volunteering or working for these international organizations gives you the chance to travel, interact with a wide range of cultures, and develop transferable skills that can open the door to other career opportunities in the future.

Hospitals also play a critical role in disaster medicine. With a heightened emphasis on emergency training for physicians and nurses, hospitals are trying to prepare their emergency departments for triaging and treating patients during unexpected disasters. Beyond direct care, healthcare facilities and other organizations employ professionals in broader emergency preparedness roles as well. These positions involve developing and implementing strategies to enhance the resilience of communities and healthcare systems in the face of disasters.

Disaster Medicine vs. Extreme Medicine

If you’re considering a career in working in disaster medicine, there may be additional opportunities in other fields related to disaster response. For example, extreme medicine focuses on providing premium care to patients in extreme environments or situations.

“I think extreme medicine is more broad in what it encompasses compared to disaster medicine,” says Wood. For example, while there is a lot of overlap between the two, those interested in responding to immediate, short-lived disasters tend to gravitate toward disaster medicine.

“There’s a lot of crossover between disaster medicine and humanitarian medicine as well,” continues Wood. Medical professionals who work with organizations like the Red Cross not only need training in disaster response methods, but they also need strategies to ensure quality care in extreme environments.

Despite these similarities though, Wood points out that “extreme medicine involves people that have other interests like wilderness and expedition medicine.” Some additional facets of extreme medicine even include dive medicine, space medicine, and cold weather medicine.

“So extreme medicine is just a really large umbrella where all these things fall under,” concludes Wood.

Why Is Disaster Medicine Important?

In a world that constantly faces adversity from manmade and natural crises, disaster medicine plays an essential role in mitigating the impacts these events can have on communities. With the rise in catastrophic disasters, effectively planning for response to these events has become even more pivotal.

“We as a culture should always be thinking about and planning for the next disaster,” says Wood. “And I think we’ve seen what happens when there’s a failure to respond appropriately to a crisis.” Slow response to weather-related disasters or a break in leadership communication are all common mistakes that can make a difference in disaster response. In addition, the lack of follow-through on protocols or procedures can have a negative impact on response time as well.

“Think about our response to events like COVID-19 or Ebola,” explains Wood. People received training, set up protocols, and then “as soon as those crises were over, those protocols all got put away and collected dust.”

Examples of successful disaster response, like the events following the Boston bombings, reveal the importance of disaster medicine professionals because the leadership and communication channels implemented ensured that both law enforcement and healthcare professionals understood expectations and responsibilities.

“It takes people that have an interest in disaster medicine to really ensure those plans are enacted, drills are performed, and protocols are in place,” explains Wood.

How to Start a Career in Disaster Medicine

If you’re passionate about helping communities in crisis and want to pursue a career in disaster medicine, there are steps you can take to discover which roles are a good fit for you. Here’s an overview of what you can do to prepare for a career in this exciting field.

1. Identify Your Specialty

Disaster medicine encompasses more than just doctors and nurses, so it’s beneficial to consider how your current background aligns with various opportunities in the field.

“A lot of people think that only physicians, nurses, and paramedics are needed in these kinds of events,” says Wood. “However, it actually requires a lot more specialty.”

According to Wood, some of these additional specialities including:

• Safety and security professionals
• Physical therapists
• Biomedical engineers
• Psychologists

While this step is important in narrowing down your career path in disaster medicine, it should also show how many opportunities are available to various professional backgrounds.

2. Obtain Additional Education

Even as a healthcare professional, there are aspects of disaster medicine that aren’t typically covered in your prior education related to care.

For example, emergency response teams deal with stressful situations and work in close proximity to extreme situations like poor weather, infectious disease, or environmental challenges that aren’t often covered in a clinical-based curriculum. “One of the important things about these fields, be it disaster medicine, humanitarian medicine, or doing cold weather or jungle expeditions, is your own personal safety,” says Wood. Emergency response specialists have to be well aware of their surroundings, able to evaluate risks on the job, and familiar with safety best practices for whatever situation they’re in.

“It takes a lot to have a successful disaster response team, therefore there are lots of different programs you can take—most of them being online,” continues Wood. Most of these training programs touch on important topics related to disaster response, such as navigating incident command systems and the disaster response cycle.

An excellent option for professionals who want a more holistic education in disaster response is a graduate certificate program, like the one at Northeastern. “Through our certificate program and eventually a degree program, we allow professionals to develop the skill set for disaster response, humanitarian response, and working in austere environments.”

3. Gain Experience in the Field

“If you really have an interest in doing this, link up with a DMAT team or a search and rescue team, and get that boots on the ground experience,” recommends Wood. Emergency response teams draw upon diverse skill sets, such as logistics, informatics, administration, and emergency management. Therefore, experience required will depend on the specific role you aspire to fulfill.

Seasoned professionals in the field are one of your best resources for understanding the everyday responsibilities of jobs you’re considering. Getting an opportunity to observe and participate in real-life disaster response efforts allows you to build practical skills, gain confidence, and figure out which roles are most engaging to you.

If gaining industry experience proves difficult, training programs, like the one offered at Northeastern, include an experiential component that allows students to lean on industry-expert faculty. “Nothing can replace that experiential learning piece, because you’re going to be with professionals and learn from those professionals in a safe environment,” says Wood.

Take the First Step Toward a Career in Disaster Medicine

Starting a career in disaster medicine requires dedication, flexibility, and specialized knowledge, but this field can be rewarding if you’re passionate about saving lives and uplifting communities. Equipping yourself with the practical skills needed to succeed in disaster settings will help you deliver effective support while managing your personal safety.

Northeastern University’s Extreme Medicine certificate program is designed to train professionals for a career in emergency preparedness. It emphasizes experiential learning through team activities and a case-based approach, giving graduates the tools to think critically about real disaster response challenges and possible improvements.