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H R S A News Brief U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Health Resources and Services Administration

HRSA NEWS ROOM
http://newsroom.hrsa.gov


Nov. 2, 2001 Contact: HRSA Press Office
301-443-3376

HRSA Employees Respond to Anthrax Scare, Terrorist Attacks

When the need arose to screen U.S. Senate and House of Representatives staff for exposure to anthrax, HRSA employees Cmdr. David Kelly and Lt. Cmdr. Peter Martineau were among the first public health officials on the scene.

As part of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Readiness Force, Kelly and Martineau, both registered nurses, were deployed to Capitol Hill to obtain specimens from employees, explain treatment procedures, and administer medication.  They also helped screen postal workers from the Washington, D.C., Brentwood Post Office for anthrax exposure.

A picture of Laura McNally and President Bush.Kelly and Martineau, both of whom work in HRSA's Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr), are among a group of HRSA Commissioned Corps officers that responded to the anthrax scare and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.  In the first days following the attacks in New York and on the Pentagon, Capt. Laura McNally joined the Emergency Support Team housed at Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington, D.C., to help coordinate health and medical services where needed.  McNally, who works in HRSA's Center for Quality, met President Bush when he visited FEMA.

Cmdr. Henry Lopez, a licensed clinical social worker, was dispatched to Pennsylvania to provide grief counseling to families of victims from United Airlines flight 93, which crashed in Somerset County. He also worked at Ground Zero in New York City to help members of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team cope with anxieties stemming from their victim identification efforts. Lopez is acting director of BHPr's Division of Health Careers Diversity and Development.

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