National Disaster Medical System

Natural and man-made disasters, such as hurricanes or major transportation accidents, bring an urgent need for health and medical care and sometimes for people to help with mass casualties.

These "worst of times" can overwhelm the resources of a state or local agency. That's when the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) is called to action.

At a state's request, NDMS provides personnel, equipment, supplies, and a system of partner hospitals working together with state and local personnel to provide care and support to communities when every minute counts.

Ordinary Heroes

NDMS personnel are trained as teams which draw on an array of professionals: doctors, nurses, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, pharmacists, veterinarians, forensic dentists, funeral directors, logistics specialists, and many others. In a major disaster these teams travel to the disaster site to provide emergency medical care, staff medical shelters or medical stations, augment hospital staff, provide veterinary care, or conduct disaster mortuary operations.