CDC Global Rapid Response Team

CDC's Director Tom Frieden discusses vital role of Global RRT at National Press Club during May 2016 (at 28:00)
Press Club Speech Transcript

CDC is standing up the Global Rapid Response Team (Global RRT) to enhance its emergency response capacity and strengthen the global emergency workforce. The team will serve as a deployable asset to help CDC experts respond to global public health concerns. The Global RRT will:

Work with and provide support to CDC country offices, ministries of health, and international public health organizations
Help CDC experts respond to health threats when and where they occur
Provide long-term staffing for international emergency responses in the field and in Atlanta
Deploy field-based logistics, communications and management and operations to support emergency operations
Provide additional staff for backfilling critical overseas vacancies
Serve as CDC’s counterpart to the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DART)
Assist partner countries to achieve International Health Regulation (IHR) compliance

The Global RRT can provide support and expertise in…

Capacity building
Coordination
Epidemiology
Field logistics

Health promotion
Lab support
Long-term staffing
Management

Partnership building
Rapid assessment
Risk communication
Surveillance

CDC Global Rapid Response Team Locations

The Global RRT will have approximately 50 staff on call to deploy at any given time, and a coordinator in Geneva. The team will be located at CDC’s Atlanta headquarters and in the field. Field locations (East Africa, West Africa, Middle East, and Asia) have been selected based on their proximity to areas most affected by health threats and their familiarity with responding to emergencies.