Sponsored by the University of New Mexico School of Medicine's Department of Emergency Medicine, the Center for Disaster Medicine was created by the Regents of the University in April of 1990. The function of the Center is three fold. First; provide education in the field of disaster medicine to Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (including the New Mexico team which was brought under this umbrella) as well as to the general public. Second; to provide disaster medical services to New Mexico and the United States. And finally, to utilize an academic foundation for research in disaster medical topics.
Within the Center for Disaster Medicine, ongoing training of our disaster teams reflect national trends that include needs identified from our experiences. Additionally, personnel from the education division of the Center serve on state and national level disaster medical committees and perform continuing education in both disaster medicine and their respective specialties in and around New Mexico.
National Disaster Medical System
The New Mexico Disaster Medical Assistance Team (abbreviated as DMAT and known as NM1) is under the aegis of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS). Created in 1984, the NDMS is tasked with specific duties relating to the provision of medical services during a disaster. These duties include providing hospital beds for use in the event of a disaster or military conflict as well as providing response teams of civilian medical personnel. These teams are each to have the flexibility, training, and equipment to either respond to the scene of the disaster or act as reception teams if casualties were sent to their local communities.
The National Disaster Medical System itself was created by Executive Order
as a joint effort of four federal agencies. These include the lead agency, the
Public Health Service (PHS) of the Department of Health and Human Services,
the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA), and
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Authority for the DMATs is provided
by these agencies through execution of a Memorandum of Understanding with each
sponsoring agency. This system is responsible for execution of Emergency Support
Function Number Eight (ESF-8) under the Federal Response Plan.
Disaster Medical Assistance Team
DMATs are operated and supported by agencies within their own communities, generally the same communities that have agreed to provide hospital beds to NDMS. One of the earliest DMATs, and the first in the western United States, was the team at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
Composed of over 200 volunteers from communities around the state, the New
Mexico DMAT, (referred to singularly, although we can actually field up to three
teams) usually consists of about 35 personnel. These are chosen from the total
membership according to the needs of the mission. The DMAT is fully self-sufficient
in both the ability to provide high quality disaster medicine in an austere
environment and to provide for its own
logistical needs. This means that each DMAT travels with not only medical equipment
and supplies but also with shelter, food, water and water purification systems,
communications (both for internal and long distance
use as well as to interface with local systems) and other equipment necessary
to the provision of both team and patient care within a disaster area.
This is accomplished by moving DMATs to the vicinity of a disaster where they
are to be self-sufficient medical units capable of independent operation or
to augment the local medical community. After emergent management, excess patients
who cannot be maintained within the disaster stricken area would then be transported
to outside hospitals participating in the NDMS system.
Meeting and training no less than quarterly, the DMAT maintains its proficiency by a variety of training methods, including simulated disaster responses involving other public safety agencies. Based upon identified training objectives, training may range from single day classroom sessions to weekend-long scenarios. For the latter the DMAT will establish camp, assess and manage patients, and maintain each of these operations over a two or three day period. In this way, all aspects of disaster medical response (and responders) are exercised, including both the medical and logistical/support components. A training committee, led by a training officer, is responsible for developing, executing, and evaluating the training program. Other departmental efforts, such as the emergency physician residency program, have also incorporated disaster medical concepts into their curricula.
The budget for the Center for Disaster Medicine and its associated programs comes from several sources. The primary source of funds is the New Mexico legislature that provides an annual allocation through the School of Medicine. Secondary funding is provided by the NDMS Office of Emergency Preparedness to support the team's logistics and administrative functions. Additional funds come to the team through member dues, donations, and some fee-for-service functions.
Please feel free to call 505-272-2525 during business hours (or page 1-800-605-4801) for more information or to join the New Mexico DMAT.