Need for continual education about disaster medicine for health professionals in China-a pilot study

BACKGROUND: Disaster Medicine training is not included in medical education curriculum in China, even though the country has suffered various disasters annually. We intended to assess the need for continual education regarding disaster management for health professionals in China. METHODS: A survey was conducted among 324 health professionals who participated in the response to the Wenchuan earthquake medical relief and public health assessment in October, 2008. RESULTS: The most of participants (67.3%) received informal disaster medicine training, and only a few (12.7%) participated in disaster drills. Most of the participants wanted to get continual education about disaster medicine training (89.8%), but prefer on-line training course for the flexibility of time scheduling and travel through China. CONCLUSION: The need for continual disaster medicine training is high; health professionals should be equipped with knowledge and skills for disaster management.