Disaster preparedness initiatives within the Duke region are the responsibility of the Disaster Medical Response Program (DMRP). The DMRP, now in its seventh year, is funded through a grant administered by the North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services and originating from the US Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR), additional funding is provided by grants from the Center for Disease Control (CDC, and the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The DMRP is operated by a full-time staff of three; A Regional Coordinator, an Assistant Coordinator who also serves as the NC 400 SMAT Commander, and an Operations/Logistics Specialist. The program is headquartered at 100 Golden Drive in Durham, NC. The DMRP service area currently covers Vance, Granville, Person, Caswell, Durham, Robeson, Scotland and Wake counties.

 

The mission of the Disaster Medical Response Program is to assist our regional partners and stakeholders in planning and mitigating for, responding to, and recovering from all-hazards disaster events. Through a robust program of training and exercises, we are working to facilitate stronger cooperation, collaboration, and communication within our stakeholder and partner agencies resulting in greater overall preparedness and resiliency. The Disaster Medical Response Program has two main components:

 

 

The DMRP Disaster Preparedness Committee (DPC) is the program’s steering group and consists of representatives from the hospitals, Emergency Medical Services agencies, Community Health Centers, Local Public Health agencies, Home Health and Hospice agencies, Long-Term Care facilities, Medical Reserve Corps units and other partner agencies within our eight county service area. The DPC meets quarterly and all are welcome to attend.