User:Scubadeb/Federal Medical Station

Federal Medical Station is a temporary federal health care capability to assist State, Tribal, and Territorial authorities in meeting disaster public health and medical surge and mass patient care requirements. The FMS program is a collaboration between the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR).

The CDC Division of Strategic National Stockpile (DSNS) manages the FMS caches of equipment and supplies, coordinates transportation of the caches to sites appropriate for FMS operations, and provides technical support during set up. The ASPR Office of Emergency Management (OEM) provides operational coordination of preparedness and response activities relating to FMS, and coordinates staffing of FMS when required.

FMS can refer to the equipment and suppy cache alone or to the operational facility itself. State, local, Tribal, and Territorial authorities may, based on their support requirements, request the FMS cache alone or an FMS with federal staffing. An FMS may be operated by the State (or requesting authority) using local health care providers, those displaced from evacuated healthcare facilities, or other available resources.

FMS caches are maintained in two sizes to support up to 50 patients, and up to 250 patients. Each contains supplies for up to three days of operation without resupply.

State, local, Tribal, and Territorial emergency management authorities must take specific preparedness actions to effectively use FMS in response to public health and medical disaster needs. Two key aspects of preparedness for FMS are site selection and wrap around logistical services. Site selection activities help ensure the proposed operating facility is large enough for the proposed patient capacity, meets safety requirements, has adequate accessibility for patients, commercial delivery vehicles and material handling equipment, has adequate functioning utilities, as well as other related building attributes. At least 15,000 square feet of open space is required for a 50-bed FMS, while a 250-bed FMS requires 40,000 square feet of space. Wrap around services include, but are not limited to security, medical oxygen, laundry, housekeeping, patient feeding, and biomedical waste removal. These services are typically contracted locally by health care facilities.