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Enhancing European Public Health Preparedness, Prehospital, and Disaster Medicine
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Featured Articles from Prehospital and Disaster Medicine
Blackout in Spain: Urgent Analysis of Impact on Emergency Medical Services
On 28 April 2025, a large-scale blackout affected mainland Spain and Portugal for more than ten hours, severely disrupting Emergency Medical Services (EMS). A recently published article in PDM provides the first national-level analysis of how this power outage impacted EMS operations.
The blackout exposed critical vulnerabilities: no Spanish EMS had a specific contingency plan for prolonged power failures; emergency call systems (1-1-2) and communication networks partially collapsed; fuel supply and digital tools such as GPS and electronic health records were compromised; and patients dependent on home medical devices faced life-threatening situations, with at least one confirmed death due to ventilator failure.
Despite these challenges, EMS professionals showed remarkable adaptability, prioritizing urgent care and strengthening interagency collaboration under extreme conditions. However, the event highlighted a dangerous over-reliance on stable electricity and digital infrastructure. Read the full-text article…
Performance of Sieve versus SwissPre Prehospital Triage Algorithms in a Simulated Mass-Casualty Incident: A Randomized Open-Label Study
In mass-casualty incidents (MCIs), effective prehospital triage helps first responders quickly identify who needs urgent care. A new study in PDM compared two triage algorithms, the straightforward Sieve method and the more detailed SwissPre approach, in a realistic computer simulation of a fire-related MCI. Participants were randomly assigned one of the two tools and asked to triage 30 simulated patients. The main goal was to see how accurately each algorithm identified patients at highest risk of dying within one hour if untreated.
Overall, the simpler Sieve algorithm slightly outperformed SwissPre in correctly prioritizing critically injured patients, with no meaningful difference in the total time taken to hashtag#triage. However, the advantage was modest, and because the study used a controlled simulation rather than real-world emergencies, results should be interpreted cautiously. These findings contribute to discussions on optimizing triage tools and highlight the need for further research in real-life MCI settings to guide practical emergency response strategies.
Listen to the Recent Podcasts
Call for Submissions: AI in Prehospital and Disaster Medicine
The Prehospital and Disaster Medicine (PDM) Editorial Team is pleased to announce a forthcoming special collection dedicated to “Evidence-Based Artificial Intelligence in Prehospital and Disaster Medicine.” The journal invites the submission of original, evidence-based research articles that explore the application of artificial intelligence within these critical fields.
All submissions must follow the PDM Instructions for Authors and conform to the formatting and content requirements for either the Original Research or Innovation Report article types. Please note the following exclusions: this collection will not consider expert opinions, frameworks, editorials, review articles, calls for action, or commentaries.
All submissions must follow the PDM Instructions for Authors and conform to the formatting and content requirements for either the Original Research or Innovation Report article types. Please note the following exclusions: this collection will not consider expert opinions, frameworks, editorials, review articles, calls for action, or commentaries.
The primary mission of the journal is to publish innovative, high-impact, evidence-based research in both prehospital and disaster medicine. All manuscripts will undergo our standard peer-review process, as detailed on the journal’s website, and must adhere to the ethical guidelines outlined therein.
An international panel of judges will evaluate selected manuscripts. All selected articles will receive a temporary, free-of-charge open-access publication. The top three selected manuscripts will be featured in exclusive podcast interviews published on the WADEM website and social media channels. Authors of the first-place manuscript will be invited to give a webinar about their project, sponsored by PDM and WADEM.
Submissions are currently open and will be accepted on an ongoing basis. Articles will be published on a rolling basis in accordance with the standard PDM schedule. We eagerly anticipate your high-impact contributions to this rapidly evolving field.
Questions about the special collection can be addressed to the PDM Editorial Team:
- Ellen Johnson (Managing Editor): ejohnson@wadem.org
- Jeffrey Franc (Editor-in-Chief): jeffrey.franc@ualberta.ca
Last Updated – 12 January 2026
Thank you for joining us in Tokyo. The congress was a huge success!
More than 1,250 delegates from over 80 countries gathered at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo from 2-6 May 2025 for WADEM’s first congress in Asia since 2011 to share research, exchange ideas and experiences, and connect with friends and colleagues. Special thanks to Dr. Osamu Kunii, Prof. Sang Do Shin, Prof. Saini Yang, Dr. Masahiro Morikawa, Dr. Luca Pigozzi, Prof. April Llaneta, and Prof. Elizabeth Newnham for their excellent plenary presentations.
WADEM would also like to acknowledge the special sessions organized by the ARCH Project, WHO Kobe Centre, Kyoto University, Tohoku University, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), World Society of Disaster Nursing, Prof. Jeffrey Franc, and New Orleans EMS and University Medical Center Trauma Center. These sessions greatly contributed to the scientific program.
WADEM would especially like to thank all the delegates, many of whom traveled long distances, for joining us in Tokyo! The wide variety of professions and nationalities represented truly makes the congress a memorable event.
Colloquium – Enhancing European Public Health Preparedness, Prehospital, and Disaster Medicine
The colloquium aimed to seek consensus from professional associations, international organizations, expert stakeholders, and citizens on adaptive ways forward for the discipline to enhance existing public health curricula in the face of emerging threats. Public and global health are challenged by unprecedented population growth, human migration, urbanization, natural disasters, climate change, war and conflict, and novel disease emergence.
