The Office of Medical Readiness

Overview

The Medical Readiness office leads the Department’s inter-agency effort on health and medical issues in accordance with the National Response Framework. The Medical Readiness office develops policies and programs to enhance all-hazards planning, exercises, and training; oversees weapons of mass destruction (WMD) incident management support; promotes the integration of state and local medical response capabilities; aligns the Department's emergency preparedness grants with medical preparedness; and leads the Department's role in addressing medical first responder requirements to prepare for and respond to catastrophic incidents, while serving as the principal Department representative for the medical first responder community.

In concert with the Department’s Office of Operations Coordination, the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Medical Readiness office leads the Department’s contingency planning and consequence management for biological hazards and the Department’s role in preparation for and response to an outbreak of Pandemic Influenza. The office also participates actively in contingency planning and consequence management for the health and medical aspects of chemical, radiological, and nuclear hazards.

Organization

The Medical Readiness office is comprised of the following five divisions:

Planning & Policy

• provides end-to-end planning for biological scenarios, identifying health and medical impacts and developing courses of action to mitigate those impacts
• develops strategic capabilities-based plans against national planning scenarios and other identified threats
• develops innovative planning systems to improve planning processes
• develops a standardized approach for integrating, synchronizing, and coordinating strategic planning activities

Medical First Responder Coordination

• leads the Department’s role in improving medical first responder readiness for catastrophic incidents and serves as the principal representative to the medical first responder community
• identifies first responder best practices and provides guidance and support for the implementation of those practices
• identifies gaps in first responder disaster planning, resources, and education—and works to fill those gaps

Incident Coordination

• provides incident management and guidance and coordinates all the Department’s goals and mandates for planning and responding to health-related issues during disasters, mass casualty incidents, and national special security events (NSSE) and is responsible for coordinating with FEMA, the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC), and the Department of Health and Human Services on such events, as HHS is the lead agency responsible for the National Response Framework/Emergency Support Function-8

Grants Coordination

• leads interagency alignment of health preparedness grants and identifies and addresses gaps in resources identified through the planning process
• works with other Department components to identify and catalog relevant health and medical standards and resource types to inform performance objectives for public health and healthcare capability enhancement
• works to enhance training and exercise resources to meet health and medical needs

Emergency Management and Medical Response Integration

• facilitates integration of emergency management and medical response capabilities at the regional, state, and local levels as well as the private sector to leverage resources
• works closely with the Metropolitan Medical Response System program to enhance emergency preparedness systems for effectively responding to a public health crisis—especially a WMD event
• maintains and measures efforts for Pandemic Influenza preparedness as well as biodefense elements