Federal Assistance
•Health and Human Services
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•Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
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•Urban Search and Rescue
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•U.S. Public Health Service
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•National Disaster Medical System
–Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs)
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•U.S. Military
Speaking Points

•Federal health and medical resources are vast

Narrative
   Typically, the feds will provide knowledge and identify experts.  They will be able to provide small numbers of medical personnel and field hospitals in the form of DMATs, or Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, under the National Disaster Medical System.  Urban search and rescue teams can be dispatched.  Sometimes the military gets involved, but this is not very common, as most of the military medical capabilities are already overstretched or overseas.  The point is, you will not get a large number of medical providers by asking for federal help, this remains on the shoulders of the local community.  As a result, local public health officials are faced with the challenge of determining where the personnel are going to come from to provide medical assistance in the event of an emergency.