Federal emergency responders (clinicians and non-clinicians) were deployed to some of the hardest hit areas of the country for more than two years (ongoing) to assist in COVID-19 treatment and vaccination efforts.

And we were right there with them.

Because of the unknown nature of disasters, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) relies on technical support services that are available – even at surge levels – at a moment’s notice. That’s where we came in. For the first 15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, we provided around-the-clock operational and maintenance support for multiple applications used by the ASPR’s National Disaster Medical System (NDMS). Our experts were available 24/7 to assist with planning and response, including responder availability, rostering, deployment, accountability, finance, and reporting functions within various software applications.

THE NATIONAL DISASTER MEDICAL SYSTEM AND COVID-19

The NDMS is the response and preparedness division for medical response of the ASPR for unplanned national emergencies, like hurricane, flooding, earthquake relief, etc. and during planned national security special events such as presidential state visits, the United Nations General Assembly and Fourth of July celebrations, to name a few. The physicians, nurses, EMS responders, mental health specialists and psychologists, respiratory therapists and other clinicians contracted by the NDMS come from across the country and have provided much-needed relief to populations victimized by natural disasters and disease outbreaks.

From the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic, NDMS responders and members of the commissioned corps of the United States Public Health Service were assisting with care of quarantined cruise ship passengers and those evacuated from Wuhan, China. As the months went on, NDMS responders were sent to the regions hardest hit by the pandemic, including Navajo reservations, Arizona, California and New York. When it came time for vaccine distribution in early 2021, the NDMS workforce aided rural populations in states and tribal areas.

FEI SYSTEMS, A TRUSTED PARTNER

We have partnered with the ASPR for more than 10 years. Our latest enhancements to NDMS IT systems allow for contracted employees to perform all operational business from mobile devices using open-source technologies. Additionally, the NDMS Response Management System (RMS), developed by us, maintains an up-to-date list of qualified and credentialed federal first responders available during a disaster. Although the programmatic support for the credentialing of NDMS Responders has moved in-house, FEI continues to provide application technical system support to NDMS in credentialing to verify that the clinicians placed on deployment rosters are accurately credentialed, transparently tracked for accountability, and easily managed to meet the needs of the emergency at hand.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, FEI Systems has provided ongoing operational and maintenance support of key NDMS systems to provide emergency health and human services to U.S. citizens. As a health IT company committed to assisting in the quality delivery of health and human services to vulnerable populations, we proudly continue to support pandemic treatment and recovery efforts by the ASPR and NDMS.