Mission:

The primary mission of the Disaster Medical Services (DMS) Division is to provide a State-level medical response system including resources and policy direction to assist local government in the event of a medical emergency which exceeds local and regional capability to adequately respond. In support of this mission, the DMS Division works to minimize human suffering during a medical emergency through programs designed to reduce loss of life and damage to the supporting health care infrastructure.

Goal #1: Provide a management system to coordinate the state-level emergency medical response.

Objective 1a: Prepare EMS Authority staff to assume emergency management positions at state-level emergency operation centers.

Objective 1b: Develop procedures to integrate California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and EMSA personnel within the Joint Emergency Operation Center (JEOC).

Objective 1c: Develop policies and procedures and train to integrate response requirements with other responding agencies.

Objective 1d: Provide accurate information to the general public and to state policy managers to assist decision-makers in establishing appropriate State-level medical response policy and direction.

Goal #2: Provide guidance and leadership to local medical response agencies to assist in the development of an organized and integrated medical response.

Objective 2a: Develop, implement, and maintain plans, procedures, and guidelines to assist medical responders at all response levels form an integrated and coordinated response system.

Objective 2b: Provide financial assistance to local emergency medical managers and responders to implement coordinated plans and procedures at the local and regional-levels.

Objective 2c: Establish and maintain reliable systems for information management among responding medical personnel including all governmental and non-governmental response levels.

Goal #3: Coordinate existing and develop additional resource procurement and delivery systems to provide medical response-related resources to local medical responders as expeditiously as possible.

Objective 3a: Develop and support regional medical emergency managers to coordinate local and regional medical response resources.

Objective 3b: Develop a system to provide trained local emergency medical managers to augment local response efforts.

Objective 3c: Develop and maintain an integrated system of medical supply distributors and the State to provide emergency medical resupply to local responders and to re-establish the pre-event medical supply relationships as rapidly as possible.

Objective 3d: Develop and coordinate a statewide medical mutual aid system.

Objective 3e: Develop and maintain a system to coordinate and integrate medical resource response by state and federal agencies.

Objective 3f: Provide financial support, training, guidance, and policy direction to State Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT)s; support the development of additional DMATs; and, provide policy direction and support to deploy State-level DMATs.

Goal #4: Develop policy, guidance, and regulation in conjunction with other state agencies to decrease human suffering during a medical emergency through the development of mitigation procedures to protect the medical infrastructure and response capability of local responders