Overview of the Emergency Medical Teams
10. The purpose of the Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) Initiative is to improve the timeliness and quality of health services provided by national and international emergency medical teams and enhance the capacity of national health systems to lead the activation and coordination of the response in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, outbreak and/or other emergency.
Emergency Medical Teams governance structure
20. The Emergency Medical Teams Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) is the principal advisory group to the EMT Initiative. The group is charged with advising on policies and strategies for EMTs.
30. The EMT Secretariat, based in the WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, oversees the global classification process of EMTs. The Secretariat also works with EMTs from governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and militaries to improve response, manage the coordination of EMTs, strengthen existing capacities, and develop best practice guidance.
40. The Emergency Medical Team Core Support Group is composed of representatives of all countries that support directly or in kind the EMT Initiative. The group is charged with advising on policies and resource mobilization opportunities available to increase the EMT Initiative's financial sustainability and supporting efforts to ensure successful global stakeholder engagement.
50. WHO leads and coordinates the EMT Initiative globally and assists ministries of health in coordinating the arrival, registration, licensing, reception and tasking of emergency medical teams when necessary.
60. A full description of EMT governance is available on the EMT website.
Classification of the Emergency Medical Teams
70. The EMT classification mechanism, managed by the WHO EMT Secretariat, is a peer-reviewed quality assurance process. Emergency Medical Teams sign up to be mentored and eventually classified as internationally deployable EMTs that abide by the international minimum standards and principles for EMTs.
80. The first step for any team is to submit an expression of interest to join the WHO Global EMT list. The EMT Secretariat at WHO then selects and assigns a suitable mentor to support the organization throughout the process. Following the mentoring process, the medical team will receive a verification site visit by a verification team and, if successful, will be classified according to its initially declared capacity.
90. The Secretariat holds a directory of all classified EMTs to help accelerate the mobilization and coordination of international-quality assured teams in an emergency. The updated directory is accessible through the EMT Knowledge Hub.
Request and deployment of Emergency Medical Teams
100. EMT mechanisms can contribute to national surge capacity, event-specific and major incident planning, and overall national preparedness and readiness plans. The EMT Initiative includes a generic methodology (guiding principles, core/technical standards and coordination mechanisms) by which EMTs are successfully integrated into a coordination mechanism as a critical tool for temporarily expanding the country's healthcare workforce in times of crisis.
110. This methodology can be adapted by the relevant health authorities – or other entities – to coordinate the deployment of national EMTs to support or augment local capacity. Where necessary, the deployment of international EMTs can be integrated within the same methodology by applying additional considerations. WHO can request assistance through the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) for disasters outside the European region. The Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) established between DG ECHO Emergency Response Coordination Center (ERCC) and WHO provide operational guidance to follow before, during and after a health-related emergency and enable coordinated action.
120. Only an affected country's government can decide whether to accept or reject EMTs. The EMT Secretariat and the relevant regional counterpart will be heavily involved in the necessary supportive activities to facilitate the rapid deployment of EMTs and establish and operationalize the EMT coordination mechanism at the outset of an emergency. These supporting activities include:
- providing remote or in-country technical support; advising on EMT capability available within the EMT Global Classification;
- activating the online registration system Virtual On-Site Operations Coordination Centre (Virtual OSOCC);
- help in disseminating essential information about the arrival and registration procedures to all international EMTs (including those already in-country); and
- making this available at all potential points of contact with EMTs, including the WHO EMT website.
