Team Rubicon is the first NGO in North America to receive this designation
DALLAS (July 2, 2018) – Team Rubicon USA, a veteran-based disaster response organization, has received verification from the World Health Organization (WHO) as an Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Type 1 Mobile. Team Rubicon is the first nongovernmental organization in North America to receive this designation and is the 18th WHO-verified Emergency Medical Team in the world.
On June 27-28, the WHO visited Team Rubicon’s National Operations Center in Dallas, Texas, to verify that the organization meets or exceeds international standards for EMT Type 1 Mobile disaster medical response.
The Team Rubicon Type 1 Mobile Emergency Medical Teams will deploy rapidly to global disaster zones to provide life saving care in austere environments. The expert teams are equipped with temporary shelters, a robust medication supply, and best-inclass technological support. Team Rubicon’s disaster response medical team is capable of providing care for 100 patients per day for up to 14 days.
The mobile clinics will provide triage, clinical care areas, basic laboratory and pharmacy capabilities in coordination with the broader international disaster response network. Team Rubicon will seek to push this capability into the most difficult to access postdisaster communities.
“Team Rubicon was born out of a bias for action in the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010. That attitude has not wavered in the eight years since, nor has the drive to build a world-class disaster response organization,” said Jake Wood, co-founder and CEO of Team Rubicon. “The WHO Type 1 Mobile EMT designation expands our engagement ability and will allow us more opportunities to provide medical assistance to communities on their worst days.”
The WHO EMT initiative was launched after experiences in the 2010 Haiti earthquake response. The initiative aims to professionalize and standardize the delivery of health services following disasters. The process also seeks to build national health systems’ capacity to lead the activation and coordination in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. This initiative will improve communication and collaboration during disasters through the EMT coordination cell. This will ensure that critical, life-saving aid is delivered where it’s needed most and that these efforts are neither duplicated nor wasted.
Team Rubicon boasts an 80,000-strong, highly-skilled volunteer force that helps communities stabilize and recover after a disaster. Since its 2010 inception, Team Rubicon has responded to over 250 disasters, including the 2015 Nepal Earthquake, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, and Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.