§ 204a. Deployment readiness
(a)
Readiness requirements for Commissioned Corps officers
(1)
In general
The Secretary, with respect to members of the following Corps components, shall establish requirements, including training and medical examinations, to ensure the readiness of such components to respond to urgent or emergency public health care needs that cannot otherwise be met at the Federal, State, and local levels:
(2)
Annual assessment of members
The Secretary shall annually determine whether each member of the Corps meets the applicable readiness requirements established under paragraph (1).
(3)
Failure to meet requirements
A member of the Corps who fails to meet or maintain the readiness requirements established under paragraph (1) or who fails to comply with orders to respond to an urgent or emergency public health care need shall, except as provided in paragraph (4), in accordance with procedures established by the Secretary, be subject to disciplinary action as prescribed by the Secretary.
(4)
Waiver of requirements
(5)
Urgent or emergency public health care need
For purposes of this section and section
215 of this title, the term “urgent or emergency public health care need” means a health care need, as determined by the Secretary, arising as the result of—
(A)
a national emergency declared by the President under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.);
(b)
Corps management for deployment
The Secretary shall—
(1)
organize members of the Corps into units for rapid deployment by the Secretary to respond to urgent or emergency public health care needs;
(2)
establish appropriate procedures for the command and control of units or individual members of the Corps that are deployed at the direction of the President or the Secretary in response to an urgent or emergency public health care need of national, State or local significance;
(c)
Deployment of detailed or assigned officers
For purposes of pay, allowances, and benefits of a Commissioned Corps officer who is detailed or assigned to a Federal entity, the deployment of such officer by the Secretary in response to an urgent or emergency public health care need shall be deemed to be an authorized activity of the Federal entity to which the officer is detailed or assigned.