Bibliometric Evaluation of Disaster Medicine and Emergency Medical Rescue Research (1992–2024): A Brief Report

Abstract Aim This study analyzes the scientific literature on disaster medicine and medical rescue between 1992 and 2024 using bibliometric methods, focusing on productivity, collaboration networks, and thematic trends. Method Original articles were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection using the TS field with the terms: (“disaster medicine”) AND (“emergency medical services” OR “public health”) for disaster medicine, and (“disaster medicine”) AND (“emergency medical services” OR “public health”) AND (“medical rescue” OR “medical triage” OR “medical transport”) for medical rescue. A total of 727 articles were analyzed (654 disaster medicine, 73 medical rescue). Bibliometric analyses were performed with RStudio 4.4.2, applying Bradford’s and Lotka’s laws. Results Disaster medicine publications received an average of 12.9 citations and emergency medical rescue publications 11.6 citations per year. The international co-authorship rate was 25.1% in disaster medicine and 30.1% in emergency medical rescue. The core journals are Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness and Prehospital and Disaster Medicine in disaster medicine, and Prehospital and Disaster Medicine in emergency medical rescue on both measures. In the last decade, the themes of “preparedness resilience-public health” in disaster medicine and “management-simulation-triage” in emergency medical rescue have increased. Conclusion Disaster medicine publications have increased steadily, particularly in themes such as preparedness, resilience, and public health. In contrast, medical rescue research remains smaller in volume and focuses more on operational themes such as management, simulation, and triage.