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Emergency Medical Task Force (EMTF)



 

  
The Emergency Medical Task Force (EMTF) Project was developed by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to create a network of regionally based medical teams. The goal of the EMTF program is to provide a well coordinated response, offering rapid professional medical assistance to emergency operation systems during large scale incidents. When the EMTF project was developed, careful consideration for organization development was taken. Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) have both hospitals and EMS agencies in their membership, and are charged with developing disaster response plans for acute healthcare emergencies. The EMTFs are multi-RAC regions, designed to leverage the capabilities of several trauma systems. The partnered RACs then selected a “Lead” RAC to be responsible for the equipment purchases and general organization of the EMTF. Utilizing the well understood NIMS Strike Team concept, eight Emergency Medical Task Forces will be rostered across Texas. The North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council (NCTTRAC) was selected to serve as the regional coordinating agency for the project in North Central Texas. NCTTRAC is partnering with Big Country RAC (Abilene) and the North Texas RAC (Wichita Falls) and is designated as EMTF-2 for Texas.

Each EMTF region has an assigned scope of work to be completed. The specific objectives to be achieved are:

  • Establish and convene regional EMTF work group(s), to include multiple Trauma Service Area (TSA)
  • Develop regional gap analysis for each EMTF region
  • Develop regional plans for each EMTF concept in conjunction with the statewide concept strategies
  • Develop roster of personnel to support each EMTF concept
  • Participation in statewide EMTF meetings and/or conference calls
  • Establish at least one rostered and trained team for each of the EMTF concepts
  • All supplies and equipment purchased must be on the standardized equipment/supply lists
  
Click here to see the Map of EMTF-2 Region

 

Each EMTF consists of the following teams:

  • Ambulance Strike Teams (AST) When activated, each task force will be able to engage up to 25 ambulances for deployment either regionally or on a statewide mission.
  • AmBus Strike Teams (ABST) Recognizing the unique needs of large-scale patient movements during times of disaster, the EMTFs will have two fully staffed multi-patient vehicles, more commonly known as “AmBuses”. These specialty EMS units will not only be able to serve during State tasked missions but will fulfill vital roles in the day to day response of their home jurisdictions.
  • Mobile Medical Units (MMU) Perhaps the most complex component of the EMTF is the Mobile Medical Unit. Essentially a deployable Emergency Room, this component is comprised of physicians, nurses and paramedics with the appropriate tentage and life-saving equipment so they can provide emergency care and stabilization capability in austere environments. They are designed to be rapidly deployable and configurable to incident size.
  • Registered Nurse Strike Teams (RNST) These groups of specialized nurses may be deployed during State tasked assignments to assist an over-taxed medical facility. These nurses will be deployed into hospitals to provide care as they would if they were at their sponsoring agency.

     

EMTF teams are to be tasked only when their home jurisdictions are unaffected.

For information on one of these teams in TSA’s C, D and E contact: 

EMTF Coordinator: Sara Jensen
Phone: 817-607-7018

 

Contracts can be made with municipalities, agencies, and hospitals. Individuals are not eligible to contract directly with NCTTRAC or Texas DSHS.
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