Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team & Missouri Mortuary Operations Response Team
The Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team (MO DMAT-1) and the Missouri Mortuary Operations Response Team (MO MORT-1) operate throughout the state and are deployed to provide people the medical care they need when seconds count. Whether they are responding to a tornado, flood or other natural disaster; protecting health and saving lives in the wake of a terrorist attack or man-made disaster; providing support in the wake of a disease outbreak; or during times of mass fatalities.
Full Disaster Support
The Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team (MO DMAT-1) was first established as a disaster response medical team in 2006, but its COVID-19 response mission, and subsequent expansion and adaptation began in February 2020.
Throughout its existence, MO DMAT-1 has responded to natural disasters, including supporting a field hospital following the Joplin EF-4 tornado in 2011. In early 2020, the MO DMAT-1 team rapidly expanded and dramatically adapted to meet the unprecedented on-going emergency needs required to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and support health care and other responders. With time of the essence, the team more than doubled its roster of health care, logistics, administrative personnel in a matter of months, and took on new missions never before envisioned. In response to an unprecedented pandemic, MO DMAT-1 rapidly transformed to rapidly hire and train new team members and quickly and efficiently deploy them as well as streamlined its processes in order to respond to a multitude of needs – medical and logistical – that had never been anticipated by the U.S. health care system.
When shots rang out and gunshot victims cried for help at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebration on February 14, 2024, MO DMAT-1 was pre-positioned to respond thanks to in-depth planning and strong local partnerships. At the request of the Kansas City Fire Department, MO DMAT-1 had set up mobile medical units both inside and outside Union Station as part of the advance operational plan for the event. When a mass shooting ensued, MO DMAT-1 worked jointly with KCFD, law enforcement and local medical personnel to quickly retrieve victims from the crowd and get them to the nearest medical tent where they were triaged, treated and stabilized for transport to the closest hospital.
The Missouri Mortuary Operations Response Team (MO MORT-1) assists local authorities in managing mass fatality incidents. When a disaster or tragedy results in more victims than local coroners or medical examiners can handle, this team can step in to help quickly, accurately, and respectfully process and identify human remains.
Mission assignments to MO DMAT-1 and MO MORT-1 vary widely and both teams have a variety of rostered medical professionals and paraprofessionals including advanced clinicians (nurse practitioners/physician assistants), medical officers, registered nurses, respiratory therapists, paramedics, pharmacists, safety specialists, logistical specialists, information technologists, communications, death investigators, pathologists, odontologists, anthropologists, funeral directors and administrative specialists.
When a disaster strikes, team members may be called on to help hospitals and healthcare facilities serve the needs of their patients, support medical sites and shelters, and more. In a disease outbreak, they may provide mass prophylaxis. During a special event, they stand ready to serve in case of an emergency. No matter what the specific mission is, these specialized state teams provide services with the utmost professionalism and compassion.