| National Disaster Medical System |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT NATIONAL DISASTER MEDICAL SYSTEM | |
| disaster preparedness in the united states | |
| federal emergency management agency | |
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The National Disaster Medical System, or '''NDMS''', is a federal-state-local-private partnership formed in 1983 to provide a coordinated national medical response in the event of natural disasters or an overseas military conflict that overwhelms the normal health care system. The official web site of NDMS is {Link without Title} . NDMS’s federal partners include the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ). NDMS also interfaces with state and local Departments of Health, as well as private hospitals. NDMS has three major capabilities: Emergency medical response with civilian medical teams, equipment, and supplies to a disaster area when local medical resources are overwhelmed; Movement of ill and injured patients from a disaster area to areas unaffected by the disaster; and Definitive care of patients at hospitals in areas unaffected by the disaster. Over 1,800 civilian hospitals in the U.S. are members of NDMS. Their role is to provide approximately 100,000 treatment beds to support NDMS operations in an emergency. When a civilian or military crisis requires the activation of the NDMS system, participating hospitals communicate their available bed space to a central control point. Patients are able to be distributed to a number of hospitals without overwhelming any one facility with casualties. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005, the NDMS system activated almost all of their civilian medical teams to assist victims in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi; helped evacuate hundreds of medical patients from the affected areas; and augmented medical staffing levels at hospitals impacted by the evacuations. Over 8,000 NDMS civilian volunteer medical personnel are organized into a number of types of medical teams, including Disaster Medical Assistance Teams ( DMAT ); Disaster Mortuary Teams (DMORT); Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams (VMAT); and a number of teams specializing in pediatric, burn, crush injury and mental health patients. |
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