Nuclear/Biological/Chemical (NBC) Defense - Federation of ...

NBC Defense Readiness and Training
The Office of the Surgeon General is currently updating Army Regulation 40-13,
Nuclear/Chemical Accident Incident Response, to include all medical teams which could
potentially be available to support civil authorities in the event of a terrorist attack with
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). The regulation will also include the Army policy for
fixed facility medical treatment facilities in support of local domestic first responders.
The AMEDD has formed Specialty Response Teams (SRTs). These teams provide a
rapidly available asset to complement the need to cover the full spectrum of military medical
response—locally, nationally, and internationally. These teams are organized by
USAMEDCOM subordinate commands; they are not intended to supplant TOE units assigned
to Forces Command or other major commands. The regional medical commands (RMCs), the
United States Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (USACHPPM), and
the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) commanders organize
SRTs using their table of distribution and allowances (TDA) assets. These teams enable the
commander to field standardized modules in each of the SRT areas to meet the requirements of
the mission. Members of the US Army Reserve (USAR) may be relied upon to provide a variety
of functions in support of the various SRT missions. All SRTs will be capable of deploying
within 18 to 24 hours of notification. The two SRTs that can support NBC are the Special
Medical Augmentation Response Team – Preventive Medicine (SMART-PM) and the Special
Medical Augmentation Response Team – Chemical/Biological (SMART-CB).
The mission of the SMART-PM is to provide initial disease and environmental health
threat assessments. This is accomplished prior to or in the initial stages of a contingency
operation, or during the early or continuing assistance stages of a disaster. The SMART-PM
can:
• Perform on-site initial health threat assessments, limited and rapid hazard sampling,
monitoring, and analysis, health risk characterization, and needs assessment for
follow-on PVNTMED specialty support in the AO.
• Prepare PVNTMED estimates.
• Perform analysis of, but not limited to--
– Endemic and epidemic disease indicators within the AO.
– Environmental toxins related to laboratories, production and manufacturing
facilities, nuclear reactors, or other industrial operations.
– Potential NBC hazards.
• Provide medical threat information and characterize the health risk to deployed
forces or civilian populations.
• Provide guidance to local health authorities on surveying, monitoring, evaluating,
and controlling health hazards relative to naturally occurring and man-made disasters.
• Assist local health authorities in surveying, monitoring, evaluating, and controlling
health hazards relative to naturally occurring and man-made disasters.
In general, the SMART-PM team provides augmentation and public health and
environmental engineering expertise in the following areas:
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