First and foremost hats off to the home team : Kathy, Rick, Churton, Alisa, Dr Lewton (aka Dr Sock) Scotty and the Logs folks as well as rest of the Team Leadership Group for an awesome job getting ready for two more possible other missions assignments:
The 12 person Medical Strike team for Red River Basin Floods and a 35 member DMAT team on call and ready for March to April 15 time period.

All is well here in Haiti , It’s hot, dusty, skeeters are a huge issue. Malaria cases popping up in Military Folks who were on Doxycycline…most due to non-compliance. You do have to use a lot of DEET even in the air conditioned tents/embassy. We all sleep in nets. Dengue from day biting skeeters a bigger issue than Malaria here in Port of Prince.

Today Strike Team crews had a down day as we were not processing any remains. Some got to come visit US Embassy and there was a local artist vendor day on grounds so some souvenirs could be purchased safely. We issued a lockdown order yesterday with intelligence regarding a kidnapping of two Swedish NGO’s working with doctors without borders. They were kidnapped walking to a car from a restaurant in Petionville area. Their release was negotiated and they are now safe.

We have been a bit busy in IRCT. big discussions with Dept of State and DoD on negotiated wind down of the mission. The management team has been tweeking the demobilization plan to fit the need. We will be doing a reduced reload of DMORT personnel on 19March. Three person force protection team from VA1. New set LRATS, and FACT coming in with 12 person DMORT team to remain active with some replacements. We have to honor a commitment to serve the DoD with forensic DMORT expertice until 31 March. But force and equipment reductions are beginning 19March.

I have been attending the USAID “In Country health coordination meetings”. It is very interesting to see the varied groups working together.. NGO’s, Haitian Ministry of Health, CDC, USAID and DoD all working on various projects together with funding:
1. Vector control mosquitoes, trash, latrines, fly control
2. Ddisease surveillance in the camps
3. Medical supply logistics
4. Coordinated messaging
5. Nutrition assistance
6. HIV treatment for high risk groups and HIV prevention in IDP camps (internally displaced persons)
7. Planning for Hurricane season.

Funny story…
CDC was all bent out of shape and made an urgent trip to a city very much in the far North of Haiti. (and all day drive on poor bumpy roads) There were 5 reports from surveillance tool of Hemorrhagic Fever from one rural hospital ……. this is a very very big deal, very contagious and lethal

When they visited the site and looked at the forms and interviewed the staff .. numbers were entered in wrong box. !!!
…………the data entry volunteer forgot to bring her glasses to work that day !!!!!!
This was the fastest outbreak resolution in the history of the CDC. LOL

DMORT Mission update.
There are 121 total cases from Dept of State referals with 119 cases closed, A New investigation of possible AmCit remains starts tomorrow. So we may have some work for DMORT coming in.

My thoughts of the day

Things are getting better each day…until the tropical storms hit later this summer which will bring some set backs.

This still is a very dangerous, impoverished, and under served Nation with huge infrastructure problems many of which will never be fully resolved.

Please offer a moment of silence (or prayer) for the grieving staff of the US Embassy who have lost family, friends, co-workers and for most Haitian National Embassy workers,, their homes. Many are living in tents in parks, rubble fields, or courtyards of family’s or friend’s homes that were spared.

The security forces, embassy drivers and other staff continued to work to serve OUR Nation’s Embassy after the earthquake despite terrible tragedies that occurred with their families and Friends.

Most of the Haitian people we meet have lost family members and/or are homeless…yet they show up to work and serve regardless; with kindness, unselfish commitment, and hope for a better future for them and their families that were spared.

Love your family, be grateful for what you have as once you have seen the sights of Haiti or heard the stories….. you will come to realize that you have been truly blessed with riches and comforts that these Haitians can only dream of.

Be prepared, Get packed and get ready to serve our Nation or those outside of our country who need our assistance in times of great need.

Respectfully sumitted ,

–
David A.Miramontes MD FACEP NREMT
Haiti Response- IRCT
Chief Medical Officer and Safey Officer
Haiti Blackberry 202 320 9876
Haiti Local Cell 3499 9947
****these are only active phones while in Haiti****
david.miramontes@hhs.gov
Team Commander OH-1 DMAT
Regional Deputy Chief Medical Officer
National Disaster Medical System (NDMS)
Office of Preparedness & Emergency Operations (OPEO)
Assistant Secretary of Preparedness & Response (ASPR)
US Department Health & Human Services (HHS)

25601 Fort Meigs Road Suite A
Perrysburg, Ohio 43551
HQ Fax: (419 ) 874-4586

dmiraems@gmail.com

(Click the title of this post to view the video)

OH1 Strike Team working in Haiti in support of the DMAT-V team.  (Click the title of this post to view the picture)

Every deployment is just a bit different than any other, no matter how many times you have gone out the door. You will learn to be ready for anything, and to expect nothing. You might be billeted in a tent, working nights, trying to sleep in the daytime with 100 degree and 100% humidity, and a helicopter landing or leaving every few minutes.

Or you might be holed up in a motel in North Dakota waiting out a howler of a blizzard.

You might spend two days on an ethics refresher course or a review of the National Incident Management System while living in luxury in the Atlanta Hiatt Hotel and waiting on your field assignment.

Or you might be doing good medical care in a largely typhoon-destroyed Senior Center in Agate, Guam and then sleeping in a badly damaged

 hotel in the resort town of Tumon Bay.

You might spend days on end eating military MREs,(Meals, Ready to Eat),or you might be waiting with great expectation for the Red Cross Mobile Canteen to stop by .Or, you may have an opportunity to  visit a wonderful New Orleans restaurant. By the way, OH-1 prohibits alcoholic beverages from activation until deactivation.

You will learn how to wash your clothes in a pair of garbage bags.

One thing is certain       

Nothing is certain from the moment we roll out. DMAT teams are often deployed in advance of an anticipated disaster. We shelter outside of the hot zone and wait while our Chain of Command chooses missions and allocates resources. Individual Team Members are not included in those discussions and decisions, so it can become a frustrating day or two. Usually, we fill up that down time usefully by calling on our own members to provide training opportunities. The Team Command Staff will be busy with planning. A particular event may call for teams of varied compositions, or specialty teams. Strike Teams may be driven, flown, or walk into areas to provide aid and expedite evacuation.

   What this means to you

You may spend more of your time getting there, waiting, getting out, and getting home than doing actual medicine.

Or you may be asked to extend your rotation, which is strictly voluntary, because your expertise is in short supply. NDMS will,

 except in maybe once in a lifetime, have you home 14 days after you receive your activation order.

OH-1DMAT

As a member of OH-1, you may have the opportunity to do meaningful work from the Virgin Islands to American Samoa, From The Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of Alaska. You will learn new skills, practice your own skill set in new and interesting ways, meet and interact with people just like, and different from, us on every deployment. It is a challenging and sometimes exceedingly stressful job: we rely upon each other.

And, oh yes, bring plenty of socks.

John Lewton PhD/Deputy Commander aka Dr. Sock