Purpose, Scope, and Assumptions

In 2007, OSDH, RMRS and MERC confirmed the need for “Ambulance Strike Teams”, and regional ambulance deployment as a critical resource for Oklahoma disaster planning and preparedness.  The OSDH, together with Homeland Security, Emergency Management, representatives from OKAMA, OEMTA, ERSDAC, RMRS, MERC and others, has worked to create these guidelines as a vital part of the State’s response to disasters, including our Homeland Security efforts. This disaster medical response system would process and provide supplemental ambulances and personnel to "impacted counties" whose resources are overwhelmed by an emergency.   

Ambulance personnel are an extremely valuable service delivery resource and participate in large-scale disaster response:  medical triage, on-scene medical care, transportation to hospitals, shelter medical care, etc.

The following assumptions and historical situations were considered in guiding this initial planning:

1. Within the first two to eight hours after a mass casualty or catastrophic event, the community’s primary field medical response may be from both the public and private ambulance and emergency medical response agencies.

2. Ambulances have self-dispatched in past events.  Self-dispatching of any resources can cause negative consequences.

3. An organized response within the OSDH / MERC framework and using the Incident Command System (ICS) is superior to an unorganized response.

4. To provide the best possible response during a major disaster in our State, it is imperative to move forward with one unified system that combines the resources from seven regional ambulance strike teams under OSDH disaster management process.

5. Management of single resources becomes cumbersome whereas the supervision of resources organized in task force/teams is a proven manageable model.

These guidelines focus on system organization (policies and procedures), communications and logistic support without addressing in detail the issues related to reimbursement.