Building Resilience Before the Storm: Why Year-Round Disaster Preparedness Matters
MedShare leverages innovation to stay prepared to help our mission delivery partners save lives.
Hurricane season may have arrived, but preparation for it and other potential natural disasters began months, even years ago. While heightened awareness is critically important, at MedShare and other humanitarian aid organizations, it only serves to remind us why we must not only brace for the unknown but be fully prepared for it year-round. Our commitment to our mission of helping to provide access to healthcare—even in the wake of natural and humanitarian disasters—demands constant readiness, innovative thinking, and strategic partnerships.
Disasters Create Fragile Healthcare Infrastructure
Disasters—whether hurricanes, floods, wildfires or tornadoes—continue to compromise access to care across the United States and around the world. Over 11 million people in the US were displaced in 2024 alone—more than any other country on record—and 45.8 million people were displaced worldwide, marking the highest level since the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) began tracking in 2008. In addition, approximately 20.1 million were internally displaced due to conflicts and violence—human-caused disasters.
During this same period, over 1,200 healthcare facilities around the world were severely impacted by major natural disasters in 2024, and likely hundreds more in smaller events that went unaccounted for. In Ukraine alone, over 1,100 healthcare facilities have been damaged or destroyed, including 173 hospitals beyond repair, since the beginning of the three-year crisis.
Simply put, when hospitals and clinics go dark, patients lose access to life-saving care. That’s where MedShare and our mission delivery partners step in.
Continuous Collaboration on Forward-Looking Solutions
Driven by climate change, natural disasters are increasingly taking a toll on our country’s healthcare infrastructure. This dire situation is fueling MedShare’s work with our partners to not only enhance emergency medical response immediately following disasters, but to continually refine our approach to proactive disaster preparedness, which is crucial for ensuring swift, effective interventions that save lives and maintain continuity of care.
Why This Matters Now
Disasters don’t wait—and neither can we. As the frequency and severity of natural disasters increases, we must continue to invest in preparedness year-round.
But we can’t do it alone.
Public support helps us pre-position critical medical supplies and hygiene kits; house, maintain and rotate biomedical equipment; train frontline responders, if necessary, on the use of equipment; and innovate sustainable solutions for long-term resilience.
Help Us Build a Safer Tomorrow
MedShare’s disaster preparedness program isn’t just about responding to the next crisis—it’s about building a healthcare safety net that can withstand the challenges ahead.
