Introduction: India ranks third among 193 countries for disaster vulnerability, according to the World Risk Report (WHO, 2024). Various natural and man-made disasters have impacted the country, including floods, cyclones, droughts, earthquakes, and train derailments. These events pose significant challenges to emergency healthcare systems. The Ronald Reagan Institute for Emergency Medicine at George Washington University, with longstanding partnerships across 18 institutions in India, focuses on delivering emergency medicine (EM) education and training. The curriculum includes a disaster management tabletop exercise to simulate responses to two case scenarios: an earthquake response and a train derailment. Methods: A virtual tabletop exercise was conducted via Zoom. The earthquake scenario involved three teams simulating collaborative disaster response through cluster meetings with global agencies. The train derailment exercise engaged participants in three teams: a pre hospital response group, an adult ED team, and a pediatric ED team. The prehospital team focused on rapid triage, while the ED teams managed patient flow and limited resources. Instructors acted as the incident command center, coordinating response efforts across teams. This was developed in accordance with the WHO EMT minimum standards for disaster training. Results: Of approximately 60 participants per session, 23 provided feedback (16 from the earthquake case and seven from the train derailment). Participants found the scenarios highly engaging, realistic, and relevant, valuing the stepwise approach to disaster response while encouraging critical thinking, especially in triage and resource management. After the post-survey, participants reported that the training significantly improved their response during a real train derailment in Delhi, underscoring the exercise’s practical value. Conclusion: India’s vulnerability to diverse disaster types necessitates ongoing and scalable disaster preparedness training. These tabletop exercises underscore the importance of low-cost training tools to equip healthcare providers for effective disaster response at scale. Future steps include expanding the scope of these exercises to more disaster scenarios and further integrating local resources.
Durgun et al. (Sun,) studied this question.