State Medical Assistance Teams

The National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) is a section within the United States. DHS is responsible for supporting federal agencies in the management and coordination of the federal, medical response to major emergencies, such as acts of terrorism, including the potential use of chemical agents. Special teams available under NDMS include Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, Veterinarian Medical Assistance Teams, Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams, National Nurse Response Teams, and National Pharmacy Response Teams (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Web site). 

The National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) supplements state and local medical resources by delivering direct medical care to disaster victims. Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT) provide prehospital treatment. Sixty existing teams, some tailored to focus on pediatrics, bums, mental health, and other specialties, including mortuary services, are in place around the country. Like military reserve units, the teams are community-based and composed of local health providers who train on weekends. Twenty-one are fully deployable and can be on the scene in 12 to 24 hours with enough food, water, shelter, and medical supplies to... 

Title XIV of the Defense Authorization Act of 1997 (PL 104-201), championed by Senators Nunn, Lugar, and Domenici, directed the Defense Department to assist federal, state, and local officials with training, technical advice, equipment, and other actions necessary to increase the local response capabilities to respond to and manage the consequences of a WMD terrorist incident. Specifically, the Defense Department was directed to assist civilian officials in developing chemical and biological defensive programs, and to help the Public Health Service to organize Metropolitan Medical Strike Teams. 

In the case of emergency situations or accidents involving inspection team members while at the facility, the inspection team shall comply with the facility emergency procedures and the inspected State Party shall to the extent possible provide medical and other assistance in a timely and effective manner with due regard to the rules of medical ethics if medical assistance is requested. Information on medical services and facilities to be used for this purpose is contained in Part D of Attachment 2. If the Organisation undertakes other measures for... 

Military support to civil authorities is the final tier in the nation s disaster response system. Federal resources that may be implemented in the event of a major biochemical or radiation disaster are the U.S. Army Special Medical Augmentation Response Teams. The mission of the SMART teams is to provide short-duration medical liaison to local, state, federal, and DOD agencies responding to disasters, civil-military cooperative actions, humanitarian assistance missions, weapons of mass destruction incidents, or chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive incidents. There are 37 SMART teams, including two burn SMART teams operated by the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical... 

Clinical research teams work on investigational trials from the time a product reaches phase II clinical development through FDA approval. Medical information staff use their expertise to assist in protocol development, medical writing, and researching drug or disease state questions that may arise in the course of these trials. 

For purposes of this report, we differentiate four levels of medical intervention, primarily on the basis of proximity to the precipitating event or initial victims. Response to a distinct, immediately recognizable terrorist incident (as opposed to a covert release of an agent whose effects would not be apparent for hours or days) would, in most instances, be initiated by law enforcement or fire and rescue personnel, followed at some point by a hazardous materials (Hazmat) team and emergency medical technicians. This is the group referred to in Table 1-1 as "Local Responders." In the same table, "Initial Treatment Facilities" refers to the fixed-site medical facilities to which victims might initially be transported (or transport themselves) or that might initially be called upon for assistance by victims or personnel on the scene. Under "State" in the table, we... 

Requests under Article X of the Convention for medical treatment of suspected chemical casualties will normally be met by medical personnel from assisting State Parties. Health and safety personnel from inspection teams will not normally render such treatment, unless instmcted otherwise by the Director-General of the OPCW. 

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