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Medical Support for California Wildfire Response

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2021

Howard Backer Open the ORCID record for Howard Backer [Opens in a new window] ,
David Duncan ,
Kate Christensen Open the ORCID record for Kate Christensen [Opens in a new window] ,
Asha Devereaux Open the ORCID record for Asha Devereaux [Opens in a new window] ,
Brett Rosen ,
Erin Noste ,
Chuck Wright  and
Craig Johnson
Howard Backer*
Affiliation:
California Emergency Services Authority, California Medical Assistance Team (CAL-MAT) Program, Rancho Cordova, CA, USA
David Duncan
Affiliation:
California Emergency Services Authority, California Medical Assistance Team (CAL-MAT) Program, Rancho Cordova, CA, USA
Kate Christensen
Affiliation:
California Emergency Services Authority, California Medical Assistance Team (CAL-MAT) Program, Rancho Cordova, CA, USA
Asha Devereaux
Affiliation:
California Emergency Services Authority, California Medical Assistance Team (CAL-MAT) Program, Rancho Cordova, CA, USA
Brett Rosen
Affiliation:
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) Emergency Medical Services, Sacramento, CA, USA
Erin Noste
Affiliation:
UC San Diego Emergency Medicine, UCSD Medical Center, San Diego, CA, USA
Chuck Wright
Affiliation:
California Emergency Services Authority, California Medical Assistance Team (CAL-MAT) Program, Rancho Cordova, CA, USA
Craig Johnson
Affiliation:
EMSA Disaster Medical Services Division, Rancho Cordova, CA, USA
*
Corresponding author: Howard Backer, Email: howard.backer@emsa.ca.gov.
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Abstract

Wildfires have become a regular seasonal disaster across the Western region of the United States. Wildfires require a multifaceted disaster response. In addition to fire suppression, there are public health and medical needs for responders and the general population in the path of the fire, as well as a much larger population impacted by smoke. This paper describes key aspects of the health and medical response to wildfires in California, including facility evacuation and shelter medical support, with emphasis on the organization, coordination, and management of medical teams deployed to fire incident base camps. This provides 1 model of medical support and references resources to help other jurisdictions that must respond to the rising incidence of large wildland fires.

Keywords

delivery of health caredisasteremergency medical servicesemergency sheltershealth facilitieswildfire
Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 17 , 2023 , e77
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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