Problem: On 17 December 2024, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck the Pacific Island country of Vanuatu, affecting over 80 000 people and causing 14 deaths and 265 injuries. Facing limited specialist clinical capacity, increased patient load and strained facilities, Vanuatu’s Ministry of Health requested support from emergency medical teams. Context: Vanuatu, highly disaster-prone and geographically dispersed, has a health system constrained by limited human resources and recent cyclone-related damage. The country’s national emergency medical team, the Vanuatu Medical Assistance Team, was established in 2017 and plays a central role in health emergency response in the country. Action: Within 24 hours of the earthquake, the Vanuatu Medical Assistance Team was activated and established an Emergency Medical Team Coordination Cell within the national health emergency operations centre. National and international emergency medical teams from Australia, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan and New Zealand were deployed over the subsequent weeks and provided clinical, mental health and information management support. The World Health Organization’s emergency medical team Minimum Data Set was implemented to monitor health trends and inform response actions. Outcome: Eight national and international emergency medical teams deployed alongside local health services. Together, they reported more than 5500 consultations to the Emergency Medical Team Coordination Cell, and a specialized team provided mental health and psychosocial support to 521 people. Minimum Data Set analysis showed a rapid decline in trauma-related presentations and detected increases in influenza-like illness, guiding the transition from emergency to recovery. Discussion: This response underscored the value of emergency medical teams following disasters, the importance of national leadership and coordination, and the significance of regional solidarity and partnerships. It also highlighted the importance of information management during emergencies and demonstrated potential innovations in this space.

The purpose of this study was to determine the physiological responses, stroke rate and stroke length of front crawl leg kick and arm stroke of age-group and college swimmers and to elucidate the characteristics of male age-group swimmers, which have not been highlighted adequately. The subjects were ten 11.8-to 12.4-year-old well-trained male elementary school swimmers (group E) and nine 20.1-to 21.1-year-old well-trained male college swimmers (group C) . All the subjects were categorized into similar swimming levels for their ages. All the experiments were performed in a swimming flume (AQUAGYM made by IHI) . The water velocities during leg kicking and arm stroking were 60 and 70%, respectively, of the maximal velocity at maximal oxygen uptake (Vmax) . The oxygen uptake (VO₂), heart rate (HR), pulmonary ventilation (V_E), tidal volume (TV), respiratory rate (RR) and blood lactate (BL) level of each group were significantly higher during leg kicking than arm stroking at both velocities. VO2, V_E; and TV were significantly higher in group C than group E during leg kicking and arm stroking at both velocities, but HR, RR and BL did not differ significantly. The leg kick to arm stroke VO₂ ratio at 70% Vmax was significantly higher in group E than group C. The stroke rate at the same velocity was significantly lower and the stroke length was significantly higher in group C than group E, but the kick rate and length did not differ significantly. VO₂·SR^-1 and VO₂ KR^-1 at both velocities were significantly higher in group C than group E. VO₂ Wt^-1 SR^-1 at 70% Vmax was significantly higher in group C than group E, but VO₂ Wt^-1 KR^-1 at both velocities was significantly lower in group C than group E. These results clarified the differences between group E and group C, which must be considered carefully when designing a training program for age-group swimmers.