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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Disaster Emerg. Med.

Sec. Disaster Medicine

Volume 3 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/femer.2025.1698372

This article is part of the Research TopicDigital Innovations in Disaster Response: Bridging Gaps and Saving LivesView all 6 articles

Applications of Artificial Intelligence-Guided Clinical Decision Support in Disaster Medicine: An International Delphi Study

Provisionally accepted
Jeffrey  Michael FrancJeffrey Michael Franc1,2,3*Manuela  VerdeManuela Verde2Joseph  BonneyJoseph Bonney4Kevin  KC HungKevin KC Hung5Joseph  CuthbertsonJoseph Cuthbertson6Liqaa  A RaffeeLiqaa A Raffee7Eduardo  SerraEduardo Serra8Marta  CavigliaMarta Caviglia2
  • 1Universtiy of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Edmonton, Canada
  • 2Universita degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale Amedeo Avogadro, Vercelli, Italy
  • 3Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, United States
  • 4Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana
  • 5The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China
  • 6The University of Notre Dame Australia, Perth, Australia
  • 7Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan
  • 8Centro Único Coordinador de Ablación e Implante, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Background: Since the 1950's, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have been beyond the reach of most disaster medicine (DM) practitioners. With the introduction of ChatGPT in 2022, there has been a surge of proposed applications for AI in disaster medicine. However, AI development is largely guided by vendors in high-income countries, and little is known of the needs of practitioners. This study provides an international perspective on the clinical problems that DM practitioners would like to see addressed by AI. Materials and Methods: A three round online Delphi study was performed by 131 international DM experts. In round one, experts were asked: "What specific clinical questions or problems in Disaster Medicine would you like to see addressed by artificial intelligence guided clinical decision support?" Statements from the first round were analyzed and collated for subsequent rounds where participants rated statements on a 7-point linear scale for importance. Results: In round one, 77 participants gave 539 proposed statements which were collated into 47 statements for subsequent rounds. In round two, 89 participants gave 3008 ratings with no statements reaching consensus. In round three, 63 participants gave 2942 ratings: Five statements reached consensus: distribution of disaster patients within the hospital, estimating the size of the affected population, hazard vulnerability analysis, acquisition and distribution of resources, and transportation routing. Experts tended to disagree with the use of AI for ethics, mental health, cultural sensitivity, or difficult treatment decisions. Conclusions: In this online Delphi study DM practitioners expressed a preference for AI tools that would help with the logistical support of their clinical responsibilities. Participants appeared to have much less support for the use of AI in making difficult or critical decisions. Development of AI for clinical decision support should focus on the needs of the users and be guided by an international perspective.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, Disaster Medicine, Clinical decision support, Machine learninig, delphi

Received: 03 Sep 2025; Accepted: 02 Oct 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Franc, Verde, Bonney, Hung, Cuthbertson, Raffee, Serra and Caviglia. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Jeffrey Michael Franc, jeffrey.franc@ualberta.ca

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.