Standards set out for emergency medical response teams

Each national-level medical emergency response team should have at least 60 members and should be ready within two hours of receiving orders, according to a regulation released by China's health authorities on Friday.

China's medical emergency response teams are responsible for emergency handling and on-site health management in major and acute incidents. Such teams were previously regulated by a document released in 2010.

In the updated regulation, jointly released by the National Health Commission, National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, each team is required to have at least 30 emergency management and healthcare professionals and at least 30 standby personnel.

It said these teams should be ready within two hours of receiving orders from health authorities.

The document also laid out minimum requirements for the capabilities of six different types of teams.

For instance, teams categorized as specializing in handling major epidemics should be able to complete laboratory testing of at least 1,000 samples, receive 200 outpatient patients and treat at least five severe infected cases each day. They should also be able to transfer patients and perform epidemiological investigations.

Teams specializing in emergency medical rescue should be capable of performing 20 trauma surgeries, receiving 200 emergency and outpatient patients, and providing 20 observation beds each day. They should also focus on improving their trauma treatment capabilities.

The document emphasized carrying out training and drills and improving teams' use of information technology.

Guo Yanhong, head of the commission's department of medical emergency response, told a news conference in July that China had set up 40 national-level medical emergency response teams and 6,500 lower-level teams.

By the end of 2025, the number of national-level teams will be raised to around 60 to 70, she said.

Wang Hesheng, director of the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, told a news conference this month that it has established 20 national-level emergency response teams dedicated to dealing with acute infectious diseases.

"Whenever a major public health event occurs, these national teams can be dispatched immediately to provide support," he said.

In December, three such teams were sent to regions struck by an earthquake, which hit Jishishan county in Gansu province the hardest, to coordinate and guide sanitation, the monitoring of infectious diseases and drinking water hygiene at temporary settlements for affected residents, Wang said.