UK-Med is verified by the World Health Organization as an Emergency Medical Team (EMT) and is the delivery partner of the UK Emergency Medical Team, the UK Government’s frontline health response to disasters overseas.
UK-Med responds to crises around the world and are proud to be both:
In June 2022, UK-Med earned Emergency Medical Team status: meaning we can be called upon 24/7, 365 days a year, to deploy anywhere in the world to provide lifesaving medical aid.
Since 2016, we have also been a key partner of the UK Emergency Medical Team (UK EMT) where we provide emergency healthcare in humanitarian contexts on behalf of the UK Government. Funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), we are the frontline of the UK’s medical response to disasters around the world.
UK-Med launch, manage, and provide the personnel for UK Emergency Medical Team responses. We recruit, vet and train team members, so they’re available to deploy at a moment’s notice.
What is an EMT?
Emergency Medical Teams deliver essential medical care during conflicts, disasters, disease outbreaks, and other humanitarian emergencies. Depending on the needs of the countries and communities affected, this might involve deploying:
- Small and highly specialist clinical, surgical, or advisory teams.
- Self-sufficient primary care facilities, or
- A field hospital.
EMT Capabilities
Assessment Teams
We have the capacity to rapidly deploy a health assessment team in preparation for large scale deployment or to support with wider response planning.
Read about the assessment team we deployed to Turkey following the devastating earthquake in 2023.
Coordination Support Teams
We deploy senior humanitarian personnel to be embedded within WHO or the WHO Emergency Medical Team Coordination Cell (EMTCC) to support national health response coordination.
Primary Healthcare Field Hospital
A WHO-verified EMT capability, with the ability to provide outpatient and emergency level care for patients, supporting direct care provision for acute trauma and non-trauma presentation, referrals and primary, maternal and paediatric healthcare.
Surgical Field Hospital Facility
A WHO-verified EMT capability, with the ability to provide primary and emergency level care, with added surgical and inpatient healthcare services. The Type 2 Field hospital accommodates up to 100 patient beds and provides an expanded emergency department, with support to complex births and surgical interventions.
Trauma / Surgical Specialised Care Teams
Our specialist teams provide targeted support working within pre-existing national health facilities for direct provision of definitive trauma/surgical care, ward level care and/or rehabilitation. These would be embedded teams, which can be deployed with or without equipment and facilities, dependent on the level of support requested.
Mobile Health Clinics
A mobile clinic is a medical facility housed within a van, large truck, empty room within a community or is set up under a makeshift gazebo or in the shade of trees.
Our mobile clinics enable vulnerable communities with little access to medical assistance receive care. Whether it is treating people on the frontline of a conflict or remote communities with no access to hospitals, our mobile health clinics are loaded with supplied, medicines and dressings so that we can provide GP, nursing and obstetric services to those needing it.
Read about our mobile health clinics delivering health to hard-hit communities in Turkey.
Rehabilitation Specialised Care Teams
A WHO-verified EMT mechanism that provides holistic patient rehabilitation services, which can work with a national host facility and/or within a UK EMT Field Hospital.
See our rehabilitation services in action following an explosion in Armenia.
Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) Teams
Our RCCE teams engage with communities directly, involving them in the planning and implementation of response strategies. By working closely with community leaders and organisations, RCCE helps tailor the response to the specific needs and cultural contexts of the community, fostering trust and cooperation. This approach strengthens the overall effectiveness of the emergency response by ensuring that interventions are well-received and supported by the community.
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