Deployment readiness
Readiness requirements for Commissioned Corps officers
In general
The Secretary, with respect to members of the following Corps components, shall establish requirements, including training and medical examinations, to ensure the readiness of such components to respond to urgent or emergency public health care needs that cannot otherwise be met at the Federal, State, and local levels:
Active duty Regular Corps.
Active Reserves.
Annual assessment of members
Failure to meet requirements
Waiver of requirements
In general
The Secretary may waive one or more of the requirements established under paragraph (1) for an individual who is not able to meet such requirements because of—
a disability;
a temporary medical condition; or
any other extraordinary limitation as determined by the Secretary.
Regulations
Urgent or emergency public health care need
For purposes of this section and section 215 of this title, the term “urgent or emergency public health care need” means a health care need, as determined by the Secretary, arising as the result of—
a national emergency declared by the President under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.);
an emergency or major disaster declared by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.);
a public health emergency declared by the Secretary under section 247d of this title; or
any emergency that, in the judgment of the Secretary, is appropriate for the deployment of members of the Corps.
Corps management for deployment
The Secretary shall—
organize members of the Corps into units for rapid deployment by the Secretary to respond to urgent or emergency public health care needs;
establish appropriate procedures for the command and control of units or individual members of the Corps that are deployed at the direction of the President or the Secretary in response to an urgent or emergency public health care need of national, State or local significance;
ensure that members of the Corps are trained, equipped and otherwise prepared to fulfill their public health and emergency response roles; and
ensure that deployment planning takes into account—
any deployment exemptions that may be granted by the Secretary based on the unique requirements of an agency and an individual’s functional role in such agency; and
the nature of the urgent or emergency public health care need.
Deployment of detailed or assigned officers
Source
(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title II, § 203A, as added Pub. L. 109–417, title II, § 206(b),Notes
References in Text
Purpose
To ensure the Corps is ready to respond rapidly to urgent or emergency public health care needs and challenges.
To ensure the availability of the Corps for assignments that address clinical and public health needs in isolated, hardship, and hazardous duty positions, and, when required, to address needs related to the well-being, security, and defense of the United States.
To establish the Corps as a resource available to Federal and State Government agencies for assistance in meeting public health leadership and service roles.”