After I moved to North Carolina, one of the officials in Raleigh's Mental Health Department of Emergency Management contacted me. He had attended a conference in Florida where he had asked for help with setting up a similar massage response program in North Carolina. I didn't have to sell the idea at all. They came to me. North Carolina is currrently the only state in the US that works directly with Critical Incidence Stress Management.
Currently efforts are volunteer driven.
The concept of massage therapy teams at disasters evolved from a grassroots effort of massage therapists who wanted to help during emergencies. The first known team event for emergency massage occurred in October 1989. I had noticed that students, staff, and the general public were experiencing a lot of numbness and inability to concentrate. At the same time, I wanted to do something that would help to alleviate these feelings and be more proactive. Doing massage therapy was the logical way for me, as a therapist, to contribute and help me cope with the effects of the earthquake.