The mutual aid support concept is well established and is considered “standard of care” in most emergency response disciplines. The purpose of this mutual aid support agreement is to aid hospitals in their emergency management by authorizing the Hospital Mutual Aid System (H-MAS). H-MAS addresses the loan of medical personnel, pharmaceuticals, supplies, and equipment, or assistance with emergent hospital evacuation, including accepting transferred patients.
The Mutual Aid Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is a voluntary agreement among the hospital members for providing mutual aid during a medical disaster. The document addresses the relationships between and among hospitals and is intended to augment, not replace, each facility’s disaster plan. The MOU also provides the framework for hospitals to coordinate as a single H-MAS community. Sample MOUs are provided below.