Washington, D.C., 4 February 2025 (PAHO). 2024 was a pivotal year for strengthening Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) in the Americas. The region made significant strides in the global classification of national teams, enhancing their capacity to respond to health emergencies both within their countries and at the regional level.
Currently, 12 EMTs in the region have demonstrated compliance with the guiding principles and international standards set by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). This ensures they can deploy self-sufficiently, provide quality care, and effectively coordinate with local health systems in emergency situations. Over the past year, the Ministry of Health of the Dominican Republic, the Social Security Fund of Panama, and the Hospital Barco San Raffaele of Colombia achieved their classification as Type 1 EMTs, while the EMT of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund renewed its classification in the same category.
Following a year of achievements, 2025 begins with strength and new challenges for the Americas. The mobile hospitals of the Ministry of Public Health of Ecuador will renew their classification as Type 2 Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the medical teams of the Ministry of Health of Mexico and the Barbados Defense Force are in the final phase of their mentorship to be classified as Type 2 EMTs. In the United States, the Samaritan’s Purse US team is progressing towards classification as a Type 3 EMT, while Team Rubicon US will renew its classification as a mobile Type 1 EMT.
The global EMT classification is an external evaluation mechanism that assesses the compliance of Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) with the guiding principles and the core and technical standards agreed internationally, as outlined in the Blue Book. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), through its Regional EMT Secretariat, leads this process in the Region of the Americas in collaboration with country offices, ensuring that each team meets the required criteria. To achieve this, PAHO relies on a network of 51 mentors specialized in management, clinical care, and logistics, who provide guidance and support throughout the process.
These advancements demonstrate the region's ongoing commitment to improving its health services and the EMT Americas network's crucial role in rapidly expanding national health systems' clinical capacities during emergencies. This effort has been made possible through the cooperation of strategic partners such as the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECID), the Ford Foundation, and the Gates Foundation, which have driven the training and mentorship of teams and their integration with other rapid response capabilities. Additionally, the U.S. Department of State and SOUTHCOM have strengthened the preparedness of EMTs with donations of essential equipment and simulation exercises in collaboration with PAHO.
