NDMS Pilot Program

What is the NDMS Pilot Program?

The National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Pilot Program is a Congressionally directed initiative led by the National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health (NCDMPH). The pilot program is part of a wider effort to build a sustainable, agile network that integrates local, regional, and federal resources.

THE MISSION is to achieve a sustainable model for military and civilian medical readiness for catastrophic events by strengthening interoperable partnerships and enhancing the capacity and agility of the National Disaster Medical System.

The NDMS pilot is designed to address the limitations our military and civilian health care systems must overcome in preparing for large-scale medical surge events. The pilot aims to address these constraints by: 

1. Assessing and strengthening current military and civilian health care systems
2. Defining policy recommendations for improving health systems of the future
3. Developing operational plans for enabling rapid capacity building during large-scale medical surge events requiring resources beyond what can be sustained in routine operations

LSUHS was selected as one of only eight sites nationwide, making it the primary hub for this region. Other partnering academic institutions include George Washington University, University of Colorado, University of Nebraska Medical Center, University of California, Davis, University of Washington, Queens Medical Center, and the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council. These strategic partners represent pilot sites who can execute Pilot site management and further military-civilian innovations and interoperability. 

Strategic Location: LSUHS was chosen due to its proximity to Barksdale Air Force Base and Fort Johnson (formerly Fort Polk), as well as its partnership with the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center. 

► Learn more about the NDMS Pilot Program

The Role of LSU Health Shreveport

Through the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Pilot program, LSUHS has several initiatives.

Hurricane Assessments Under the Simultaneity Challenge (completed) 

LSUHS studied the impact of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, to include the unique attributes of both storms and their implications on future preparedness and planning efforts, with a focus on the nation’s military, veterans, and civilian health systems.

Site Establishment and Sustainment (ongoing) 
LSUHS has established an NDMS Pilot Site Steering Committee and Chief Medical Officer Committee, coordinated a Landscape Analysis and Site Implementation, created a Medical Surge Plan and begun planning for Regional Medical Operations Coordination. 

Accelerated Training to Amplify Civilian Healthcare - ATTACH (currently underway) 

LSU Health Shreveport is leading Accelerated Training to Amplify Civilian Healthcare (ATTACH) Capacity for large-scale combat operations (LSCO): a focused effort to understand whether accelerated education and training can safely and credibly expand civilian healthcare capacity when demand surges beyond routine capability. LSUHS is studying the timing of needs and decision-making by leaders during disaster health events that may co-occur during a LSCO to identify community health and medical response implications of deployments of active duty and reserve service members and National Guard.

The work is being advanced by discipline-specific committees (made up of faculty from U.S. training programs) who are examining the current baseline for how the workforce is trained today, what credible “acceleration” models already exist, and where constraints show up earliest when you try to shorten pathways at scale. Rather than relying on a single data source, ATTACH is using a mixed-methods approach that blends literature review, committee expertise, and modeling to pressure-test options before they become recommendations.

Several lines of inquiry are shaping the analysis:

• Mapping traditional training pathways (time, complexity, and the balance of didactic vs. experiential learning) and comparing them to innovative curricula intended to reduce duration.
• Evaluating technology enablers that could reduce time-to-competency or improve competency attainment.
• Assessing the implications of shorter training for clinical competency, scope of practice, licensure, malpractice coverage, and certification, including potential limitations during and after LSCO.
• Considering what it takes to build and sustain resilience for a prolonged, high-intensity response, and what lessons may translate beyond LSCO, such as addressing civilian rural workforce shortages.

As the committees continue their work in parallel, the effort progresses from scoping and assessment into integrative analysis and refinement, with the intent to produce training pathway/curricula recommendations and supporting deliverables (including policy-oriented products) that NDMS partners can use to inform preparedness planning.

LEADERSHIP TEAM