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Disaster Medical Support Unit (DMSU)
The Disaster Medical Support Unit (DMSU) is a proactive asset in the rapid delivery of medical logistics and support services at dynamic incidents and events in Butler County and elsewhere in the region. The DMSU is designed to be self-sufficient for 72 hours.
The DMSU has a variety of mission capabilities to support the emergency response effort including, but not limited to:
The DMSU goal is to arrive on scene for Butler County responses within 90 minutes of activation. The DMSU is designed to support incidents within Butler County that will last three hours or longer. This allows the DMSU to mobilize, arrive on scene, and set up with enough time to make a significant contribution to the medical and rescue efforts.
For incidents outside the Butler County area, the DMSU responds to incidents expected to last 5 hours or longer.
The DMSU duty officer will need a brief rundown of the situation and an idea of what the incident commander needs from the DMSU. This gives us an idea of how many personnel to bring and which equipment to mobilize.
Once on scene, the DMSU team leader will have a face-to-face meeting with the incident commander to brief them on our mission-specific capabilities and design a plan that will best help the support effort.
How Can DMSU Help on My Scene?
The DMSU has a variety of mission capabilities to support the emergency response effort including, but not limited to:
- Providing disaster medical and support caches
- Providing a team of trained, dedicated personnel that will facilitate the proper mobilization and deployment of the DMSU trailers, Butler County Gator, and Butler County Mobile Command Vehicle
- Providing medical support at large events, such as a first aid station
- Providing mobile or non-mobile support
- Providing temporary or annex area command post facility and support
- Providing personnel trained in Incident Command System (ICS) structure to fill gaps as needed in local responses
How Long Does the DMSU Take to Arrive on the Scene?
The DMSU goal is to arrive on scene for Butler County responses within 90 minutes of activation. The DMSU is designed to support incidents within Butler County that will last three hours or longer. This allows the DMSU to mobilize, arrive on scene, and set up with enough time to make a significant contribution to the medical and rescue efforts.
For incidents outside the Butler County area, the DMSU responds to incidents expected to last 5 hours or longer.
What Information Does the DMSU Need?
The DMSU duty officer will need a brief rundown of the situation and an idea of what the incident commander needs from the DMSU. This gives us an idea of how many personnel to bring and which equipment to mobilize.
Once on scene, the DMSU team leader will have a face-to-face meeting with the incident commander to brief them on our mission-specific capabilities and design a plan that will best help the support effort.