The Forward Deployable Preventive Medicine Unit (FD-PMU) is a rapid response, task-organized, specialized preventive medicine platform that meets the operational commander's Force Health Protection needs. It includes microbiology capabilities of the former Navy Forward Deployed Laboratory (FDL) plus many expanded capabilities, including chemical/biological/radiological/environmental (CBRE) agent detection and identification.
The mission of the FD-PMU is to enhance Force Health Protection by identifying and evaluating environmental health hazards (including chemical, biological, radiological, and physical agents), assessing the risk of adverse health outcomes, monitoring the health of deployed forces, and advising the operational commander of significant risks and recommending preventive medicine interventions needed to protect the health of the force. The FD-PMU is organized in four major functional components:
Preventive Medicine
Serves as coordinating hub for other components to provide recommendations regarding force protection strategies. Prevents disease outbreaks through theater surveillance data analysis, conducts epidemiological investigation of disease outbreaks, provides field sanitation expertise and assessment. Recommends interventions for prevention and control of deployment-related occupational and environmental illnesses, injuries, and diseases.
Chemical
Provides capabilities for detection, identification and monitoring of chemical warfare, environmental and radiological hazards and exposures during deployments.
Microbiology
Provides capabilities for detection, identification and testing of naturally occurring and biological warfare infectious disease agents potentially encountered during deployments, as well as laboratory diagnosis of militarily relevant public health diseases.
Disease Vector
Provides strategies and programs to protect deployed forces from disease vectors, including surveillance and control of insects and animals that transmit diseases of military significance.
The FD-PMU functions independently of the health care delivery mission of deployed in-theater medical treatment facilities by focusing on rapid health hazard identification and threat assessment to the operational commander. The FD-PMU is highly flexible, mobile, and is capable of tailoring its size and composition according to operational mission requirements. Any single component or combination can deploy as required by the mission. The FD-PMU can provide the full spectrum of support for contingencies, including: Major Theater Wars (MTW), Smaller Scale Contingencies (SSC), Military Operations Other than War (MOOTW), Stability and Sustainment Operations (SASO), Host Nation Support (HNS), Humanitarian Support Operations (HSO), Peace Keeping Operations (PKO), and post-conflict scenarios.
Content last reviewed on February 11th, 2009.