The Department of Veterans Affairs' role in federal emergency management

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has been increasingly called on to provide disaster relief health care personnel and other emergency assistan ce since the role of the Department of Veterans Affairs in emergency manage ment was expanded by the Federal Response Plan in 1992. This article briefl y reviews the VHA's emergency management functions currently specified by t he Federal Response Plan and its present activities in procuring and mainta ining antidotes, antibiotics, and other pharmaceutical stockpiles to be use d in response to terrorist incidents involving weapons of mass destruction. In view of VHA's national scope and extensive assets, its administration b y the government, and its critical role in health professional training, th ere are several additional ways that VHA could economically augment the fed eral government's efforts to better support and prepare local jurisdictions for disasters or incidents involving weapons of mass destruction, if the r equired authorization and funding were provided.