Sandra Castelblanco Betancourt

Sandra Castelblanco Betancourt is a Colombian Registered Nurse with 27 years’ experience. She holds a master’s degree in Disaster Management from the United Kingdom, has been trained in the development of trauma systems in Israel, and also in earthquake preparedness in the United States.

She led the Formulation of the Bogota´s Health Sector Earthquake Preparedness Plan. She took part in the development
of the current technical Guidelines in Hospital Risk Management for Bogotá. She has been a consultant for PAHO/WHO in Colombia, in many projects related to Disaster Hospital Safety and the provision of access to health services for violently displaced and confined populations.

As a Disaster Nurse, she is a freelance specialized Consultant in Disaster Safety for some of the biggest private hospitals in the country and has significant experience in the application of the “Hospital Safety Index.” She is also a lecturer at universities in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. She has collaborated with WADEM, first as coordinator of the international Communities of Practice; later, as the Spanish Session Moderator during the Beijing Congress in 2011; since 2017, as the co-chair of the Latin America and the Caribbean Chapter; and now has been recently elected as a member of the Board of Directors.