Deborah Schwengel, Meera Gangadharan, Kelly Chilson, Ellen Choi, Ashley Weinhold, Amanda Widing, Wendy Binstock, Robert Greenberg, Christina Diaz
{"title":"Anesthesiologists, An Overlooked Resource: An Exposé on Anesthesiologists as Leaders in Disaster Preparedness and Response.","authors":"Deborah Schwengel, Meera Gangadharan, Kelly Chilson, Ellen Choi, Ashley Weinhold, Amanda Widing, Wendy Binstock, Robert Greenberg, Christina Diaz","doi":"10.1017/dmp.2025.10124","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Anesthesiologists are broadly trained members of the health care workforce, managing patients daily using advanced stabilization/resuscitative techniques. They work in a collaborative, team-based model and lead multidisciplinary teams. Their work includes prioritizing patients according to the complexities of their disease presentations, and threats to life and limb. Trauma care is a regular part of the anesthesiologist's job. The presence of anesthesiologists is required in hospitals to achieve the designation \"level 1\" trauma center. Anesthesiology is a specialty known for promoting safe practice principles and improving quality of care, utilizing crisis resource management and implementing cognitive aids. Despite these skillsets, anesthesiologists are generally overlooked in disaster preparedness. The number of trained anesthesiologists is similar to that of emergency medicine physicians, and they are nearly twice as abundant as general surgeons. In countries outside the US, anesthesiologists are often included in the pre-hospital team.The purpose of this article is to emphasize the skillsets of anesthesiologists and to advocate for their inclusion in disaster preparedness teams. Due to their presence and comfort throughout the hospital system, broad training in emergent and elective cases, resuscitation skills, procedural skills, communication skills, daily triage, and team management, anesthesiologists should be considered essential leaders during mass casualty incident preparation and response.</p>","PeriodicalId":54390,"journal":{"name":"Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness","volume":"19 ","pages":"e198"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2025.10124","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Anesthesiologists are broadly trained members of the health care workforce, managing patients daily using advanced stabilization/resuscitative techniques. They work in a collaborative, team-based model and lead multidisciplinary teams. Their work includes prioritizing patients according to the complexities of their disease presentations, and threats to life and limb. Trauma care is a regular part of the anesthesiologist's job. The presence of anesthesiologists is required in hospitals to achieve the designation "level 1" trauma center. Anesthesiology is a specialty known for promoting safe practice principles and improving quality of care, utilizing crisis resource management and implementing cognitive aids. Despite these skillsets, anesthesiologists are generally overlooked in disaster preparedness. The number of trained anesthesiologists is similar to that of emergency medicine physicians, and they are nearly twice as abundant as general surgeons. In countries outside the US, anesthesiologists are often included in the pre-hospital team.The purpose of this article is to emphasize the skillsets of anesthesiologists and to advocate for their inclusion in disaster preparedness teams. Due to their presence and comfort throughout the hospital system, broad training in emergent and elective cases, resuscitation skills, procedural skills, communication skills, daily triage, and team management, anesthesiologists should be considered essential leaders during mass casualty incident preparation and response.
期刊介绍:
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness is the first comprehensive and authoritative journal emphasizing public health preparedness and disaster response for all health care and public health professionals globally. The journal seeks to translate science into practice and integrate medical and public health perspectives. With the events of September 11, the subsequent anthrax attacks, the tsunami in Indonesia, hurricane Katrina, SARS and the H1N1 Influenza Pandemic, all health care and public health professionals must be prepared to respond to emergency situations. In support of these pressing public health needs, Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness is committed to the medical and public health communities who are the stewards of the health and security of citizens worldwide.