title: Disaster medicine.
abstract: The American College of Emergency Physicians defines a medical disaster as occurring when the destructive effects of natural or man-made forces overwhelm the ability of a particular region to meet the demand for health care. The science of disaster medicine is continually improving, and significant progress has been made in defining how to provide a comprehensive response to disaster sites. The management of a disaster involves an activation phase, followed by the implementation and recovery phases. The success of each phase depends on coordinated on-site and off-site communication systems. This paper presents an overview of this new subspecialty and discusses the fundamental components of an effective disaster response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Oster
mesh_terms: D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration; D004190:Disasters; D004635:Emergency Medicine; D006801:Humans; D009313:National Health Programs; D018635:Rescue Work / Q000458:organization & administration; D014481:United States