The very successful 17th World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WCDEM) closed on 3 June 2011. The Congress hosted more than 1,600 participants from 57 countries. The 17th WCDEM was held in conjunction with the 14th Annual Meeting of the Chinese Society for Emergency Medicine.
In keeping with tradition, the Closing Ceremony featured a "passing of the flag" from the current WCDEM site to the upcoming one. Prof. Anthony Redmond, Dr. Judith Fisher, and Prof. Li Chengshung (pictured to the right) posed for a photo marking the transfer of the WCDEM from Beijing to Manchester in 2013.
With the scale and frequency of disasters increasing, the 17th WCDEM was more relevant then ever. This year alone marks one of the worst in terms of disasters – the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reactor issues in Japan; floods in Australia; earthquakes in New Zealand; and tornados in the southern United States. Research, experiences, and lessons learned from these recent events, and many others, were presented by delegates at the 17th WCDEM.
