• When was the Emergency Medical Assistance Team (EMAT) established and why?
• What kind of health care support does the EMAT provide?
• Who can request assistance from the EMAT?
• How quickly can the EMAT be in place?
• How is the EMAT dispatched?
• How is the EMAT staffed?
• How is the EMAT staff protected?
• Why does Ontario need the EMAT?

The EMAT is a mobile medical field unit that can be on site within 24 hours in a community with road-access, and can provide a staging and triage base for patients prior to transporting them to hospital.

The EMAT is a mobile medical field unit that can be on site within 24 hours, and can provide a staging and triage base for patients prior to transporting them to hospital. The EMAT has the capability to treat 20 acute care patients and 36 intermediate care patients, as well as provide :

1. patient isolation in the case of an infectious disease outbreak;
2. medical support and decontamination in the case of a chemical, biological or radiological incident; and
3. case management and triage of patients in a mass casualty situation.

If any jurisdiction in Ontario finds that it does not have the capacity to respond effectively to a health emergency, the EMAT may be requested to help under the conditions described in the Criteria for Deployment.

Criteria for deployment includes such aspects as: a Code Orange being invoked by a hospital; the emergency is involves a severe respiratory illness OR mass casualty incident OR requires medical care for victims of chemical/biological/radiological/nuclear (CBRN) emergency; human resources are inadequate to meet emergency demand; and/or physical resources are overwhelmed and the volume of patients cannot be managed.

Any community that is unsure about the impact of the occurring health emergency, as well as its ability to respond to the situation, should contact the Emergency Management Branch (EMB) of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, early in the crisis. This will allow for a timely assessment for the deployment of EMAT.

See Criteria for Deployment for more information.

See Contact information for the EMB.

The system uses on-call health care professionals who volunteer to work on the EMAT. Team members come from a variety of locations so that no single area is without vital health human resources.

There are approximately 80 staff which include acute care nurses, medical radiation technologists, physicians, critical and advanced care paramedics and social workers.

The staff is specially trained to respond to a variety of major health emergencies including natural disasters, infectious disease outbreaks and chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incidents. Once the EMAT is dispatched and is on its way to the site of the emergency, the EMAT on-call staff is alerted and transported to the site.

The EMAT staff has the appropriate training and skills to function as a team in a health emergency environment involving infectious diseases outbreaks, natural disasters or chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incidents. The EMAT also has a range of personal protective equipment to protect staff from potential chemicals or infectious diseases while deployed.

Health emergencies that cause significant human injury or illness can sometimes overwhelm the health care resources of the community in which they occur. The EMAT can provide the medical resources needed in any community that is unable to manage large number of patients resulting from a health emergency.

CritiCall Ontario provides a 24 hour call centre for hospitals to contact on-call specialists; arrange for appropriate hospital bed access and facilitate urgent triage for patients
1-800-668-4357

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