A Review of Disaster Medical Preparedness: Improving Coordination and Collaboration in the Delivery of Medical Assistance during Disasters

This hearing assessed how federal efforts and programs coordinate with the private sector to ensure individuals affected by disasters have access to medical care. This hearing used the activation of hospitals under the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) during Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Gustav and the Haiti earthquake as a case study of federal medical preparedness and response efforts. Specifically, the Subcommittee will review the challenges faced by activated hospitals in Little Rock, Arkansas, in response to Hurricane Gustav. These hospitals experienced issues with patient transportation, medical surge capacity and coordination of medical reimbursement between Federal programs and agencies. Reviewing the lessons learned will provide the Subcommittee with a better understanding of the challenges in responding to the medical needs of those affected by disasters and ways to improve Federal response efforts.