Abstract: Driven by events such as terrorist outrages and pandemics, the 21 st century has seen substantial changes in how countries plan for and manage emergencies across health care systems. Aside from changes in the pattern, type and scale of emergency, emergency preparedness must respond to developments in medical knowledge and treatment, and in information and communication technologies, particularly social networking. This report describes a scoping study of research and development (R&D) needs with regard to emergency planning in health care undertaken by the authors in the UK. We discuss the design of the study, difficulties in its conduct and, via a reference to the published final report, indicate its conclusions. © 2012 ISCRAM.