Adopting Technological Innovations to Enhance Disaster Event Response

Area of Science:

• Disaster medicine
• Medical technology
• Health informatics

Background:

• Medical care in disaster settings is increasingly influenced by technological advancements.
• Lack of a conceptual framework risks fragmented innovation and limited interoperability.
• Key technologies include telecommunications, physiologic monitoring, artificial intelligence, and computer vision.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a framework for categorizing medical innovations in disaster environments.
• To enhance the conceptualization of interconnected technological developments.
• To guide practitioners, policymakers, and the private sector in leveraging these innovations.

Main Methods:

• Integration of current literature review.
• Incorporation of expert insights.
• Analysis of global market trends.

Main Results:

• Proposal of a 4-category innovation framework: Enabling Technologies, Signal Acquisition, Data Utilization, and Applications.
• Subdivision of Applications into 4 use cases: Disease/Injury Surveillance & Detection, Population Protection, Responder Protection, and Disease/Injury Management.
• Identification of potential applications for various stakeholders.

Conclusions:

• The proposed framework facilitates a holistic approach to medical innovations in disasters.
• It promotes better interoperability and reduces the risk of innovation silos.
• Stakeholders can use this framework to inform clinical practice, funding, and development priorities.