Update 20 June 2008

Past WADEM President (1989–1993), Dr. Peter Baskett died on 18 April. Peter was a founding member of the Club of the Mainz (later WADEM). He was a giant in the development of the resuscitation sciences and the development of emergency medical services.

Peter had a profound impact on WADEM and many of us for whom he served as a mentor and friend. He was inspirational and supportive to us. In recognition of his leadership, service, and life’s work, he was selected to receive the WADEM Peter Safar Award; he received this award during the 14th World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine in Edinburgh whence he provided an insightful oration on the history of resuscitation. He was the president of WADEM when the Journal of the World Association for Emergency and Disaster Medicine was resuscitated into its current form as Prehospital and Disaster Medicine and when the name of the WADEM was morphed to the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine.

We are preparing a memorial issue PDM and invite your comments, stories, and thoughts about Peter. Please participate and send them to mlb@medicine.wisc.edu.

Posted 29 April 2008
Welcome to the new update page for the WADEM Website. Coming this summer, we hope to unveil many new features to both the WADEM and PDM sites. Check this page for important announcements concerning our important organization.

WADEM Now a Global Health Cluster Partner
As of 08 April 2008, WADEM is a full partner in the Global Health Cluster (GHC). Following the earthquake and tsunami in Southeast Asia in December 2004, The UN Interagency Standing Committee developed clusters to improve worldwide preparedness for and responses to disasters. This is an attempt to improve communications and coordination between all of the stakeholders within and outside the UN Agencies.

The mission of the Clusters includes addressing gaps and strengthening the effectiveness of humanitarian responses through building partnerships, and ensuring predictability and accountability in international responses to humanitarian emergencies by clarifying the division of labor among the different sectors of the responses. It attempts to make the international humanitarian community more structured, accountable, and professional.

For more information on the GHC, please click here. You can also read more about the GHC in the upcoming issue of Insight.