OH-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team

0. Deployment Info

Current Deployment News: 7 March 2010

The following individuals were selected by the TLG for the strike team and left today -Sunday 7 March, for their Haiti Mission. David Miramontes MD (will be assuming the mission CMO position for NDMS), Rachel Sheppard NP, Kevin Clemans RN, Nichol Zimmermann RN, Thomas Saunders EMT-P and John Woycitzky EMT-P. This is not a hotel deployment. We wish them all safe travels!                                           

 Rest assured that we still have a complete team rostered and are still first-in! Rick “Boudreaux” Hess has stepped into the Command position and John ” Dr Sock” Lewton is our Deputy. We remain ready to deploy as needed! Maintain situational awareness, WE ARE FIRST IN for MARCH!  Be thinking “cold weather” secondary gear preparation.

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Current Deployment News: 3 March 2010

OH-1 Force Protection Strike Team deploying to Haiti

OH-1 is deploying a 5 member Force Protection Strike Team to the Haiti theatre of operations. This team is composed of 2 nurses, 2 paramedics and either one Doc or NP (yet to be determined). Their primary mission  to protect and keep healthy the DMORT team that is trying to find and process 11 more US Citizen’s remains in haiti.  They also will provide medical support for other HHS personnel.

 Additionally Dr M will be deploying as the CMO for the IRCT in country as well.  Projected deployment date is 7 March to Atlanta and 8 March to Haiti with a return in 14-21 days.

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Personal Deployment Equipment List

OH-1 Equipment List 8 07 

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Current Deployment News:

PASSPORTS and OH-1 Membership

Recently several team members have come forward noting that their Passports are expired, expressing concern that they are NOT deployable. You must get your applications for replacement of expired U.S. Passports re-submitted ASAP. In the interim you remain deployable. As we have shared numerous times over the years – a U.S. Passport although note REQUIRED by HHS/NDMS …..AT THIS TIME, is highly recommended for ALL team members – with emphasis added. 
 
e.g #1; If we had been deployed to American Samoa recently - shorter and more direct flights could have been arranged – if all deployed held current U.S. Passports. Without Passports - even changing planes would have been problematic because foreign soils would be involved and Passports are necessary in those situations. 
 
e.g #2: If while deployed in a region say- of the US Territories for a disaster – and if a team member were to require definitive medical care not available in the DMAT – “closest point” definitive care might well be in a foreign country. NOT having a US Passport – complicates and even jeapordizes that option. 
 
So it is highly recommended and you are all encouraged, again with emphasis added – to procure, update and maintain a US Passport. With the missions, focus and intent of HHS constantly evolving – the possibilities are ever increasing that we may in fact be charged with duties that will undoubtedly require possession of a U.S. Passport. As a Fed employee – and a conscientious citizen – a Passport is one more layer of secured government ID. NDMS at this time CANNOT mandate the possession of a Passport - but OH-1 wants to maintain a “go-team” posture with a footprint that can respond to any mission request that may come our way from the “pipeline”.  To satsify these needs - all members are urged to voluntarily have in their possession a valid U.S. Passport or be in the process of procurement of the same.
 
Hope this clears up the muddy water somewhat. If you have any further questions, etc – contact any members of the TLG.

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Operation Haiti

We are not on first call until 1 March 2010. We have and continue to roster personnel as BACKFILL for other teams currently in the slot for deployment – as well as for special missions that are continually evolving. We are not as a team rostered for deployment to Haiti at this time.

OH-1 is currently collecting and updating clinical experience and background information on all clinicians currently associated with the team. RN’s and Paramedics are urged to check their email frequently and submit responses/answers for requested information within 24 hours of receipt. TO Jeff Orphal is driving this tasker. If you are either an RN or Paramedic and have NOT responded and completed your clinical profile – please contact him immediately directly via email and or landline. (2015 hrs 3 Feb 2010)

A request for availability to roster for the March First in On-Call has been distributed by Katy D our AO via listserv. There are numerous members who have not responded. Please check your email and respond with the appropriate “yes” or “no” regarding your availability for March. Refer to your Team Member Agreement regarding your timeliness and responsibility to update HQ of your status when requested.  A response is MANDATORY if you are a Federalized Intermittent Employee.

There are still those that need to fill out the Medical Fitness Affidavit. Several calls for submission have been issued and there are numerous who have not responded. Please – check your email, complete and email the form to Dr Roberts ASAP. It is attached to download and print.

NDMSPhysicalMedicalFitnessAffidavit

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What to Expect on Deployment

 

What to expect on Deployment

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 (or three or four). Usually, we fill up that down time usefully by calling on our own members to provide training opportunities (just in time training). The Team Command Staff will be busy with planning, commanding and planning some more.  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. (Never pack more than what you can personally carry).

   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

Churton Budd, Deputy Commander 2009-03-30 11:10
Modified 2010-03-07 14:36:14

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