A Message from the President WADEM Professional Nursing Section and Nursing Insight

The development of a Professional Nursing Section constitutes a major step forward for the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM). The Nursing Section is this first professional subgroup formed by the WADEM.The creation of this Section was based on the suggestion of nurses from Latin America and the Caribbean during the Regional WADEM Congress in San Salvador in May 2004, and was approved by the WADEM Board and General Assembly during the 14th World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine in Edinburgh in May 2005. A principal reason for initiating the Nursing Section was that during crises many issues relative to nursing arise that can be solved by nursing and do not require the efforts of the entire WADEM organization. In addition any nurses stated that it was not possible for them to pay the fees required to become full members of WADEM, but that they could pay the costs encumbered by the Nursing Section. Thus, it is possible to become members of the Nursing Section of WADEM for US$50/year without becoming full members of WADEM ($90-150). This entitles limited membership Nursing Section members to Nursing Insight, discounts for international congresses, and access to the WADEM Journal, Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, including password-protected issues. Nursing Insight is an exciting new publication of the WADEM. It is dedicated to keeping members of the Section up-to-date on the developments in the field of disaster health that have special significance to nurses.Articles that meet these criteria are selected, reviewed, and commented upon by experts in Disaster and Emergency Nursing. The reviewers not only analyze the science of the papers selected,but also point out the significance of the findings for nursing. This is a new process that provides section members access to the latest science without having to search through numerous publications. Nursing Insight will be translated into several languages and will be mailed directly to members, will be available to members on the Internet, and will be password-protected for members of the Nursing Section and of WADEM. It is with great excitement that the WADEM brings this important addition to the world of Disaster and Emergency Health. I know that the efforts of the Editor and Review Board will be of value to all of the WADEM membership in general and nursing, in particular. I extend an invitation to nurses everywhere to join in this effort.