Disaster Zones and Military Medicine: Lessons in Readiness, Coordination and Care

Military & Tactical Medicine
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This is Part 3 of a 3-part webinar series exploring how military personnel are prepared for environmental extremes in operational settings.

In this final session, Professor Tim Hodgetts examines the evolving role of military medical services in disaster response. As climate-related disasters increase in frequency and scale, military medical teams are increasingly called upon to support humanitarian crises at home and abroad — from pandemics to earthquakes, wildfires to floods.

Tim shares strategic and field-based insight into:

  • How military medical services integrate with civilian and NGO-led disaster relief

  • The unique strengths and limitations of military-led deployments

  • Critical lessons learned from recent responses, including COVID-19 and the 2023 Turkey earthquake

  • The value of pre-disaster planning, rapid deployment logistics and joint coordination

  • The role of telemedicine, drones and technological innovations in crisis zones

  • Challenges in treating trauma, chronic conditions and vulnerable populations in austere settings

This session builds on the physiological foundations of Part 1 and the operational and ethical landscape discussed in Part 2, concluding the series with a focus on practical response, future readiness and civil-military collaboration.

Professor Tim Hodgetts is the Master General of the Army Medical Services and former Surgeon General of the UK Armed Forces. He has held senior NATO medical leadership roles and continues to advise on extreme medicine strategy and deployment.

Watch Part One here.

Watch Part Two here.

More Information

Length: 23m
Guests: Tim Hodgetts
Host: Eoin Walker

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this session, viewers will be able to:

  1. Explain the unique capabilities and limitations of military medical services in disaster response.

  2. Understand how civil-military coordination works in domestic and international crises, including the role of UN OCHA and NGOs.

  3. Identify key logistical challenges in deploying medical assets and how military planning addresses them.

  4. Describe common medical and public health challenges in disaster zones, including crush injuries, sepsis, and chronic condition management.

  5. Evaluate how emerging technologies such as telemedicine and drone delivery are shaping disaster response capabilities.

  6. Reflect on the strategic lessons learned from recent military-led disaster responses and their implications for future collaboration.

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