Years before the terrorist attacks in 2001, several academic centers began to develop disaster education programs to meet a perceived lack of medical disaster preparedness. Since the attacks, demand has increased for a nationally recognized course in "all-hazards" training to better prepare health care professionals, emergency response personnel, and others for mass casualty incidents. While nationally recognized training programs existed for cardiac life support and trauma management, there was no standardized training program for disaster management. To meet this need, a coordinated "all-hazards" training program was developed by this consortium with financial support from a Congressional Appropriation through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The members of this consortium are the Medical College of Georgia, the University of Georgia, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health.

In 2003, these four major academic centers, in partnership with the American Medical Association (AMA), established the National Disaster Life Support™ (NDLS™) training program to better prepare health care professionals and emergency response personnel for mass casualty events. The overarching goal is to standardize emergency response training nationwide and strengthen our nation's public health system.

In order to oversee the rapidly-growing program, the principals established a non-profit foundation, the National Disaster Life Support Foundation™ (NDLSF™), in 2004. The NDLSF™ is responsible for the establishment and accreditation of a national network of training centers. The AMA is the sponsoring and continuing medical education (CME) accrediting organization for this initiative as well as the publisher of the texts.
The NDLS™ courses stress a comprehensive, all-hazards approach to help physicians and other health professionals deal with catastrophic emergencies from terrorist acts as well as from explosions, fires, natural disasters (such as hurricanes and floods), and infectious diseases. Such non-terrorism events are much more likely to occur.

By completing these courses, clinicians will better understand their integrated roles in the broader disaster response system. In large-scale, mass casualty events, physicians and other health care workers must be knowledgeable of the need for efficient coordination among local, state, and federal emergency response efforts; how to protect themselves and others from further harm; how to communicate effectively with other emergency personnel and the media; and how to address the unique psychological impacts and related social chaos that may ensue.