The New Mexico Department of Health has developed the New Mexico Modular Emergency Medical System Framework or NM MEMS Framework over a two-year consultation process, which now culminates to begin the “NM MEMS Pilot Project.” The NM MEMS Pilot Project was developed within the Bureau of Health Emergency Management with two clear purposes.
Purpose One:
To test the NM MEMS Framework as a guide for local communities to use in developing an All Hazard response plan or medical surge annex to overwhelming patient surge within their existing local emergency operations plan. The NM MEMS functions are to be seen as interventions or ways to be developed or applied so that a community could handle the great number of people seeking or needing health or medical care during a catastrophic incident. This incident has the potential to overwhelm existing infrastructure and a community’s normal capability to provide care.
Purpose Two:
To apply the medical surge capabilities that the New Mexico Department of
Health, Bureau
of Health Emergency Management 
is
developing to support local planning; and to test the adequacy of those capabilities
in selected and diverse New Mexico communities. These capabilities along with
technical assistance include: health professional volunteer registry, mass prophylaxis
or medical countermeasures, communication interoperability systems; a coordinated
health emergency management exercise plan program; a system for resource management
and access to state and federal critical medical equipment and pharmaceuticals;
and, a health system preparedness program with a vision to institute an Emergency
Health Care System in New Mexico.
Specifically, the NM MEMS Pilot Project details four steps to success:
Step One: Local Planning Workgroups
Engage local stakeholder planning group in discussions to deepen understanding of overwhelming medical surge, the use of the NM MEMS functions or strategies for response, and the ethical decisions, which might be made during response to catastrophic incident;
Step
Two: Developing A Response Plan
Develop a local community-based “all hazards” medical surge response plan or medical surge annex to overwhelming patient surge using the NM MEMS Framework. The plan resides within their existing local emergency operations plan and is aligned with previous pandemic influenza plan/activities. The result is an All Hazard response plan.
Step
Three: Finalizing Your Plan
Test the community-based plan and revise based upon a debrief After Action Report (AAR) process to produce final plan;
Step
Four: Engaging Your Community
Engage the broader community in understanding the plan; and, incorporate medical surge response plan implementation by local responders into their organization’s internal emergency management plan further delineating their specific role in community-wide response.
