Official website of the Department of Homeland Security
Rural Emergency Medical Communications Demonstration Project
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) supports and promotes communications capabilities used by emergency responders and government officials across the country. In its efforts to advance interoperability, OEC develops the National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP), which is the Nation’s strategic plan that establishes goals, objectives, and actions to enhance and improve interoperable and operable emergency communications. The 2014 NECP recognizes the broader nature of emergency communications, which includes interoperable communications for emergency medical personnel.
OEC recognizes the specific challenges of limited interoperable communications in rural areas which impacts efficient medical care delivery. The Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2016 authorized OEC to establish a one-time demonstration project that leverages existing technologies and engage non-medical professionals to help establish or sustain statewide medical communications systems and utilize existing infrastructures to improve the delivery of rural medical care. OEC established the Rural Emergency Medical Communications Demonstration Project (REMCDP) to work with a public and state controlled institution of higher education to examine communications barriers and identify solutions that enhance existing emergency communications infrastructure.
Project Award
OEC’s criteria for evaluating project proposals included the results of the DHS’s merit review process (as described in the REMCDP Notice of Funding Opportunity) in alignment with overall legislative and programmatic REMCDP goals and objectives. OEC recently awarded $2,000,000[1] to the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) to fund the First Hands Project.
The UMMC First Hands Project will test an innovative approach to communications governance, planning, coordination, training and exercises. The project may serve as a repeatable model for other rural communities to improve communication barriers in addressing rural medical care. OEC will also work with the REMCDP grant recipient to document lessons learned, capture challenges and successes, and share information with rural communities in the future.
[1] Estimated funding is subject to change pending final negotiations.
Contact
For specific questions regarding this grant opportunity, contact OEC@hq.dhs.gov.
Resources
Please click on the links below to access the Rural Emergency Medical Communications Demonstration Project Notice of Funding Opportunity and the Frequently Asked Questions document.