Our purpose & vision

Following the 2010 Haitian earthquake the emergency management response community realized that international medical responses require globally agreed standards and quality assurance – coordinated responses are vital to minimise loss of life in the hours following a disaster.

It was also apparent that a country’s medical response capacity is best resourced from within its own pool of local health staff. As a result, the WHO published minimum standards for Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) in 2013 (known as ‘The Blue Book’), authored by a team led by Respond Global’s founder Dr Ian Norton. Those standards now assist countries to establish their own EMTs and govern how emergency support is provided globally.