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Mon Sep 15 00:20:59 BST 2008

Thanks for the compelling dialog on disaster planning and response.  I am a
newcomer to this site.  I wish to support the need for local communities to
become involved in regional disaster coordination.  Most emergency managers
will agree that coordination should always start at the local level and
progress up the ladder (municipality>county>state>region).

The federal government (under ESF#8) is deployed to augment overwhelmed
local resources.  The NDMS has a variety of missions including finding beds
for casualties away from the disaster; providing and staffing stabilization
sites that perform triage to expedite transfer of patients to the
appropriate resource; the staffing of reception centers, and the delivery of
care to displaced populations.  All of these activities help to relieve
stress on the remaining medical personnel and resources in the community.
The role of the federal system is not so much the issue as is the need for
regional cooperation, planning, resourcing, coordination and funding.

Hopefully the trauma community will consider taking the lead.  We need a
scalable model that can be adapted to most regions in the nation.  As you
already know, most disasters are handled locally and never require a federal
disaster declaration.  I know that many of you already deliver healthcare
under very stressful and often overwhelming conditions in the absence of
problems like Katrina and Ike. Having personally participated in disaster
response, I have the greatest admiration for the excellent work done by the
NDMS/DMAT program. 

As a member of the medical community, I understand the frustration and
desire of local professionals wanting to participate.  In most every
disaster, the initial burden of response always falls upon local effort and
ingenuity. Though at some point integration with a federal response is
required, the initial needs must be addressed by the local medical
community.  Coordinating a region is an issue requiring leadership and
having worked with trauma surgeons over the years I can think of no better
group of people to address these issues.

You will find a welcome ear and an important resource in your Emergency
Managers (hospital, municipal, county and state).  I know its not a simple
problem, but it is one worth addressing.

Here are the websites of the NDMS program should you wish to learn more.

http://www.hhs.gov/aspr/opeo/ndms/index.html
http://www.hhs.gov/aspr/opeo/ndms/teams/dmat.html

Stay safe.

Richard Besserman, M.D., M.S.
Disaster Medicine and Emergency Management

> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org [mailto:trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org]
> On Behalf Of ALS79 at aol.com
> Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2008 1:24 PM
> To: trauma-list at trauma.org
> Subject: Re: [CCM-L] ?? DMAT "Military" hospital and/or clinic
> 
> Have you broached this issue with Texas ACS or COT? It could definitely
> broaden the scope of influence, especially if negotiated with the Texas
> Hospital Association. For that matter, the ACS-COT in Chicago is certainly
> capable of generating a position paper at the national level, although they
> don't always trickle down to become local health policy. Thanks for all that
> you do Ken, and I hope you're getting some rest.
> 
> Bob Kellow
> 
> 

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