North Carolina State Medical Assistance Team (SMAT)
Special Operations
SORT was designated a part of the State Medical Response System, (SMRS) by the North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Service in 2004 with funds from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) bioterrorism grant.
SMAT-1 can respond locally, regionally, statewide, or out of state (under the EMAC agreement) to assist overwhelmed emergency services agencies working in disaster conditions.
SMAT-1 also has the capability of assisting an overwhelmed hospital by providing a "parking lot decontamination area," personnel for an overwhelmed emergency department, or to set up a medical surge capacity holding area to receive patients for a hospital that has reached its capacity.
SMAT- Special Ops /SORT capabilities include:
- Specialized rapid decontamination and medical care of victims exposed to both chemical industrial products and weapons of mass destruction agents. (Biological, Chemical, Radiological)
- Rapid strike-team medical assistance
SMAT-1 / SORT can provide three 4 to 5 person medical strike teams capable of deploying with a drivable or flyable cache to function without resupply for 72 hours. The primary focus of these strike teams teams would be shelter medical management.
- Rapid response 50-bed field medical unit. SMAT-1/ SORT can provide a rapidly deployed field medical unit to support up to 50 patients complete with it's own sheltering, power, lights, medical supplies, etc. also designed for 72 hour operations without re-supply.
- Management of a 150+ bed alternate care facility (special medical needs)
- Management of the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile (NPS) receiving site.
- Establishment of a Mass Drug Distribution / Immunization site
- Assist other SMAT Teams (II's III's, special medical needs, decon, etc)
Self sustained for 72 hours / 7-14 day mission duration
- Move patients for air-lift transport at designated airport hub
- Provide heat/cold related rehab services to other emergency service agencies (urban search and rescue teams, firefighters, etc.
- On site Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM)
- Preventative Medicine Assessments
- Mass Fatality Assistance
- Hospital decontamination assistance
- Partner with an SMAT II team on mission requiring assistance
The SMAT Special Ops can respond with a scalable team size of 12 to 54 members including: Physicians, PAs, Nurses, Paramedics, Firefighters, Law Enforcement, Veterinarians, Medical/Hazmat/ and support personnel all trained in working in the austere environment. The team also has the capability of breaking into 2 separate strike teams.
(above left) SMAT-1's decontamination area setup along side an SMAT II's field hospital.
North Carolina State Medical Assistance Teams (SMAT) website - click HERE
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