Military-Civilian Partnerships Augment Civilian Disaster Response for the National Disaster Medical System

Area of Science:

• Disaster medicine
• Military medicine
• Public health preparedness

Background:

• Military-Civilian Partnerships (MCPs) are increasingly vital for sustaining military medical skills and sharing crisis response knowledge.
• The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) supports MCPs and oversees the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS).
• Military personnel's unique training in austere environments and dispersed locations offers untapped potential for the NDMS.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the utility of a military-civilian partnership for National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) domestic disaster response.
• To assess the integration of military medical personnel into real-world disaster scenarios.
• To explore the sustainment of critical wartime medical readiness skills through civilian partnerships.

Main Methods:

• A developmental "crawl, walk, and run" approach was employed, integrating didactics, clinical immersion, and joint training exercises.
• Military personnel were integrated into a real-world NDMS response framework.
• The United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) and Advocate Health collaborated in this MCP.

Main Results:

• The USASOC-Advocate Health MCP successfully deployed during the Hurricane Helene domestic disaster response in October 2024.
• The mobilized team provided 6 days of resuscitative and surgical support, including emergency medicine, nursing, anesthesia, and surgery.
• This marked the inaugural utilization of an MCP in a domestic disaster response.

Conclusions:

• Military personnel possess specialized skills in mass casualties, austere medicine, and medical operations planning beneficial for federal disaster response.
• This pilot program indicates significant potential for enhancing the resilience of the domestic disaster system.
• Future efforts should focus on formalizing MCP integration, scaling disaster training nationally, and exercising mass casualty movement to civilian centers.