Metropolitan Medical Response System
Pikes Peak Metropolitan Medical Response System
The Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) is a U.S. Department of Homeland Security program that assists highly populated jurisdictions to develop plans, conduct training and exercises, and acquire pharmacuticals and personal protective equipment to achieve the enhanced capability necessary to respond to a mass casualty event.
The purpose of the Pikes Peak Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) is to support local jurisdictions in enhancing and maintaining integrated all hazards response capabilities to manage mass casualty incidents during the early hours critical to life-saving and population protection until external resources arrive and are operational to include:
- Terrorist acts using weapons of mass destruction/chemical biological radiological nuclear explosive
- Large-scale hazardous material incidents
- Epidemic disease outbreaks
- Natural disasters
The Pikes Peak MMRS Region includes the following Colorado counties: El Paso, Pueblo, Fremont, Teller, Park, Lake, and Chaffee.
MMRS is the only Federal government program that directly supports enhancement of existing local first responder, medical, public health, and emergency management by increasing systematic integrated capabilities to manage a weapon of mass destruction mass casualty incident until significant external resources arrive and are operational (typically 48-72 hours).
Pikes Peak MMRS Regional Accomplishments
The Pikes Peak MMRS coordinates efforts from agencies such as local offices of emergency management, law enforcement agencies, fire departments, area hospitals, mental health facilities, emergency medical service agencies, health departments, local military installations, National Guard, Federal Bureau of Investigation, American Red Cross, and various local, state, and federal agencies, to work together. This coordinated multi-disciplinary approach has been has been instrumental in:
- Increasing awareness and enhanced medical protocols
- Enhancing readiness to respond to a terrorist attack
- Expanding identification of capabilities, rapid analysis, and emergency notification
- Improving the understanding for the need for a Unified Command
- Including management outreach with an all agency commitment to work together
- Providing for an operational capability including an "all-hazards" approach
- Procuring specialized equipment to detect and be protected from chemical and biological agents
- Reinforcing the participation of key responding stakeholders
- Incorporating the health component into what was traditionally a public safety/management
The Pikes Peak MMRS is sponsored by the City of Colorado Springs and is administered by the Colorado Springs Office of Emergency Management, which resides within the Colorado Springs Fire Department.
For more information regarding local planning efforts, contact the Pikes Peak MMRS program at (719) 385-7282 or at mmrs@springsgov.com.
For more information about the MMRS program in general, visit http://mmrs.fema.gov.
To view Pikes Peak MMRS Regional Map click here.
To view Colorado Division of Emergency Management's training and exercise calendars, visit http://www.dola.state.co.us/dem/training/train.htm.
For additional information on what you can do to prepare for a disaster, visit http://www.readycolorado.com/.
