[CCM-L] ?? DMAT "Military" hospital and/or clinic

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Bob 
 
Your historical perspective is correct. In my opinion, this should be done at the federal level, and hence my belief that the military should run all disasters. FEMA has proven that they cannot do it and therefore should not be involved. They should perhaps write the checks and give us support. But we all know that neither of this will happen. Therefore it must be done on a local level.
 
Norman
 
Norman McSwain MD
Trauma Director, Charity Hospital
Professor of Surgery, Tulane University
New Orleans LA
504 988 5111
norman.mcswain at tulane.edu <mailto:norman.mcswain at tulane.edu> 

________________________________

From: trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org on behalf of ALS79 at aol.com
Sent: Sun 9/14/2008 2:42 PM
To: trauma-list at trauma.org
Subject: Re: [CCM-L] ?? DMAT "Military" hospital and/or clinic



Ken and Norman,

During my years at ACEP, I was immersed in the issue of federal responses to
emergencies. As a historical point, the first federal program of this nature
was rolled out in the mid '80's and called the Civilian-Military Contingency
Hospital System (CMCHS), which was an attempt on the part of the DOD and HHS to
cajole American hospitals and physicians into allocating beds and services in
anticipation of receiving inbound military casualties from a war in the Middle
East. This "program" was spearheaded by Tom Reutershan from HHS.

At its rollout meeting at the AMA in Chicago, most of the attendees concluded
that to participate in such a venture would provide entree to US involvement
in an overseas conflict, and thus the "program" was generally rejected by the
hospital, surgical and medical communities.

Only months later, the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) emerged as the
spawn of CMCHS, except its focus was directed toward domestic disasters and
now acts of domestic terrorism. FEMA postulated that it would serve in the
event of California sliding off into the Pacific, and more insanely in the event
of a preemptive nuclear attack on the part of the Soviet Union - which by
conservative estimates at the time would have killed 180 million Americans in the
first 30 minutes post launch.

The majority of these federal response plans are disgorged from Washington,
and by people whose apparent mission is to see who can create the most
voluminous and convoluted doorstop in the office. I've witnessed it first hand.

You are both correct in recognizing that only local medical response planning
and coordination will effectively mitigate local emergency conditions. The
LSU hospital system has moved aggressively in this regard following Katrina.

As renowned leaders in the world of trauma surgery, I believe that you have
more authority to make demands than you might think - even counting the
political consequences. The last thing that the disaster planners and elected
officials would want to see is a televised interview by either of you describing your
discontent. You're at ground zero during these events and because of your
expertise and professional credentials, you should rightfully seize control of
your surgical domain. And, the simpler the plan the better.

Bob Kellow


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