The rationale for the use of telehealth during response and recovery efforts includes:   

• Providing a more flexible response 
• Advancing consultation and medical expertise to more critically impacted areas 
• Protecting responders from unnecessary exposure to danger 
• Improving management, responders, and support entities of public health emergencies and medical disasters 
• Improving situational awareness  
• Reducing critical points of failure 
• Enhancing the interoperability and use of data and enhancing compensation mechanisms for providers  
• Offering specialist decision-making for triage and determination of appropriate investigation, treatment, or management   
• Providing increased accessibility to medical care for persons with disabilities and rural populations 
• Enhancing and strengthening patient and material accountability during a patient rescue, transfer, and disposition