Field note: Emergency readiness is becoming more operational
A recent development in Saudi Arabia drew our attention: the review of the Saudi Red Crescent emergency readiness and its strategic plan. On its own, this is a national update. In a wider context, it reflects a broader direction of travel across multiple regions.
Emergency readiness is becoming more operational, more integrated, and more focused on whether systems can function under pressure.
This is visible in different ways. In Saudi Arabia, the emphasis is clearly on emergency system readiness and coordination. At facility level, the Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority also reported a hospital fire drill at Mouwasat Hospital Madinah, focused on evacuation, response time, and multi-agency coordination.
In the UAE, recent developments have pointed toward structured preparedness through emergency medical response planning, business continuity, risk management, and simulation-based cooperation. In October 2025, MoHAP said it had signed agreements to strengthen medical preparedness in emergencies and crises, including hospitals’ emergency medical response plans, business continuity frameworks, risk registers, simulations, and training. Abu Dhabi’s Department of Health also has a current policy on risk management and business continuity for healthcare facilities, plus an MCI standard and EMS standard under CEPAR. Also, MoHAP said in late 2025 it had completed training for private-sector hospital staff on the Mawardna system to support emergency/crisis planning, and it also highlighted an initiative linking National Ambulance with hospital emergency departments to improve early warning, resource use, and time to treatment.
In Brazil, recent multiple-victim simulations linked to large public events show the same principle from another angle: readiness has to be exercised in realistic conditions, not only described in plans. Bahia’s state health secretariat announced a February 2026 multiple-victim care simulation ahead of Salvador Carnival, explicitly testing transport times to the hospital backup network and using the Hospital Geral do Estado’s multiple-victim center as the hospital reference point. Goiás state health authorities reported a March 2026 emergency-and-disaster simulation at CRER to train protocols and integrated response. Maranhão ran a March 2026 tabletop exercise for a coastal-flood contingency plan at a state health unit, and Piauí reported a realistic hospital fire simulation with patient evacuation and coordinated emergency response.
What stands out is that mature preparedness is no longer defined simply by the existence of a disaster plan.
The more important question is whether hospitals and emergency systems are able to coordinate across agencies, maintain continuity under stress, manage surge and triage, and test key decisions before a real incident occurs.
This is one of the clearest shifts in the sector at the moment: a move away from preparedness as a documentation exercise, and toward readiness as an operational capability.
For hospitals and health systems, that distinction matters. A written plan remains essential. But practical readiness depends on whether the wider system has been trained, exercised, and connected well enough to perform when conditions deteriorate.
That is where much of the most relevant work is now taking place.
Sources:
https://www.spa.gov.sa/en/w2547261
https://www.doh.gov.ae/-/media/3F8709C089064DDEA2529A6AEA70462A.ashx
https://goias.gov.br/saude/crer-realiza-3o-simulado-do-plano-de-emergencia-e-desastres