About

 The Washington State Homeland Security Coordination Region 1 DMCC/Hospital Net supports and maintains the emergency communications capabilities of the Region's hospitals and healthcare facilities.  Region 1 includes Island, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom Counties.  

The Net is managed and operated by amateur radio operators who are members of several Amateur Radio Emergency Service®  (ARES®) organizations within the American Radio Relay League's (ARRL®) Washington District 1.

Disaster Medical Coordination Centers (DMCCs) are designated hospitals where trained medical personnel gather to help coordinate patient movement during an incident that may overwhelm the healthcare community.  DMCCs are responsible for supporting emergency medical services (EMS) and the healthcare community by identifying available beds and placing patients at the most appropriate facility, based on their injuries or illness, as quickly as possible. 

A DMCC is activated following an incident that may overwhelm the healthcare system such as a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) or hospital evacuation.  An activation request typically comes from Fire/EMS at the scene.  A DMCC is operated by trained emergency department staff that may consist of doctors, nurses, technicians, administrative personnel and/or EMS partners. 

The DMCC/Hospital Net supports the DMCC by providing emergency radio communications to facilitate the DMCC:

• Gathering information from the field

• Providing initial notification to area hospitals

• Requesting bed availability and ability to receive patients

• Coordinating or assisting with patient placement with hospitals, Fire/EMS and other DMCCs

The DMCC for Region 1 is Providence Regional Medical Center Everett (Colby Campus).  The Alternate DMCC for Region 1 is PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center, Bellingham.

Net Members