Rapid developments in healthcare technology can significantly improve the quality, availability, and immediacy of care in health emergency events; however, without a cohesive framework to conceptualize the interplay between emerging technologies, we risk creating silos, ignoring applications, and reducing interoperability between innovations.

This framework was developed after reviewing the current literature regarding new technologies in healthcare assessment and delivery, discussing relevant innovations with experts, and analyzing global market trends in emerging health technology capabilities.

Innovative health technologies deployed in disaster settings can be grouped by their relevance to (1) Disease and Injury Surveillance and Detection, (2) Population Protection, (3) Responder Protection, and (4) Disease and Injury Management. The first category encompasses technologies that help characterize the severity and scope of an event at its onset, utilizing a network of wearable devices, sensors, remote infectious disease sampling, and other tools. Once an incident occurs, technologies aimed at Population Protection are necessary to preserve the well-being of unaffected citizens. Scaled-up on-demand manufacturing for prophylactic medical countermeasures and needle-free delivery mechanisms for pre-treatments against CBRN threats will be paramount. Healthcare and emergency responders require additional support before and during incident response, especially just-in-time training through virtual and augmented reality, biometric monitoring, next-generation personal protective equipment, and enhanced communications capabilities. Finally, delivering care to patients in healthcare emergencies will require optimized allocation of scarce resources based upon acuity and survivability. Effective healthcare service delivery can be bolstered using Telehealth, autonomous patient transport, drone delivery, robotic and haptically guided care delivery, and decision support tools.

To effectively manage the successful adoption and implementation of innovative tools applicable to health emergencies, areas of impact and utility should be comprehensively categorized. This framework guides emergency managers, policymakers, and innovators alike to understand how individual developments coalesce in the larger context of disaster prevention, response, and recovery.