Within the United State of America, the specialty of disaster medicine fulfils the requirements set for by Homeland Security Presidential Directives (HSPD), the National Response Plan (NRP), the National Incident Management System (NIMS), the National Resource Typing System (NRTS) and the NIMS Implementation Plan for Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities.

2007 – On October 18, 2007, President Bush issues HSPD-21 outlining an augmented plan for public health and disaster medical preparedness. HSPD-21 specifically calls for the creation of the discipline of “disaster healthcare” using the accepted definition of “disaster medicine.” HSPD-21 also calls on the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to use “economic incentives’’ including the Center for Medicare Services (CMS) to induce private medical organizations, hospitals and healthcare facilities to implement disaster healthcare programs and medical disaster preparedness programs.[1]