The state of California, in the United States of America, has a population of nearly 40 million people and is the 5th largest economy in the world. During the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease) pandemic in 2020-2021, the state experienced a medical surge that stressed its sophisticated healthcare and public health system. During this period, ventilators, oxygen, and other equipment necessary for providing ventilatory support became a scarce resource in many healthcare settings. When demand overwhelms supply, creative solutions are required at all levels of disaster management and healthcare. This paper describes the disaster response by the state of California to mitigate the emergency demands for oxygen delivery resources.

Wildfires have become a regular seasonal disaster across the Western region of the United States. Wildfires require a multifaceted disaster response. In addition to fire suppression, there are public health and medical needs for responders and the general population in the path of the fire, as well as a much larger population impacted by smoke. This paper describes key aspects of the health and medical response to wildfires in California, including facility evacuation and shelter medical support, with emphasis on the organization, coordination, and management of medical teams deployed to fire incident base camps. This provides 1 model of medical support and references resources to help other jurisdictions that must respond to the rising incidence of large wildland fires.