The federal response plan and disaster medical assistance teams in domestic disasters

Through a variety of processes over the last 30 years, an organized federal plan has emerged for the response to domestic disasters. This plan incorporates several aspects of medical response into two areas: (1) health and medical and (2) urban search and rescue. This article discusses the development of the federal response plan with emphasis specifically on medicine. Highlighted are disaster medical assistance teams, urban search and rescue task forces, and roles and responsibilities of emergency physicians and other emergency health professionals in a federal disaster response.