Ohio Disaster Medical Assistance Teams Deployed To Florida
Release Date: September 4, 2004
Release Number: HQ-04-157
» More Information on Florida Hurricane Frances
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Two teams of medical specialists from Ohio have been deployed to Florida to assist in the response effort to Hurricane Frances. Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) deployed the Ohio Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT) to assist heavily impacted communities in Florida with emergency medical needs following Hurricane Frances.
“We have committed all available resources to help the residents of Florida, including deploying the DMATs who will play a critical medical role in the response effort,” said Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response.
The Ohio FEMA DMAT’s are staging in Atlanta with other teams from Michigan, Rhode Island and New York and will deploy into affected areas soon after Hurricane Frances moves through the state.
“We are prepared to help the residents of Florida with their medical needs and we have some of the finest emergency medical personnel in Ohio responding to this disaster,” said Ohio-1 Team Commander James Fenn. “The members of the team are experienced in these situations and are ready to mobilize when the call comes.”
The Ohio FEMA DMAT’s have responded to some of the country’s largest disasters including Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Hurricane Floyd in 1999, and the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. Teams are part of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), which is one of the resources brought to FEMA since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The teams consist of members from throughout Ohio but are centered in Dayton, and Toledo. Each team’s 35 members consist of physicians, nurses, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and other medical specialists. Each unit is designed to be self-sufficient for 72 hours with supplies including food and medicine.
“It is a major effort to pre-position these types of resources,” said William Devir, Ohio-5 Team Commander. “If you wait for the storm to hit to initiate the process, you are already too late.
FEMA’s DMATs have recently responded to large-scale disasters including The World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001, Hurricane Isabel in September 2003, the Bam, Iran Earthquake in December 2003 and Hurricane Charley last month. NDMS Teams have also been deployed in 2004 to support the G8 Summit in Georgia, the National Democratic Convention in Boston and the Republican National Convention in New York.
On March 1, 2003, FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. FEMA's continuing mission within the new department is to lead the effort to prepare the nation for all hazards and effectively manage federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates proactive mitigation activities, trains first responders, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration
Last Modified: Saturday, 04-Sep-2004 20:29:14