Term Paper on "Dmat Disaster Medical Assistance Teams"

Term Paper 8 pages (2461 words) Sources: 4 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT) are defined as 'a group of professional and paraprofessional medical personnel designed to provide emergency medical care during a disaster or other event' (McEntire 156). They are utilized when a disaster or other event results in local medical professionals being overwhelmed by the situation. The system was set up by the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) in 1985 as a result of a meeting between local and state experts. There are currently 80 DMATs in the NDMS, with more than 7,000 medical and support personnel taking part.

DMAT teams have their own supplies and are able to work for a prolonged amount of time, even in challenging conditions. Any supplies are replenished by the NDMS so that the teams can remain working throughout the disaster, for as long as required. DMAT teams are usually able to work entirely independently of the local teams, and also supply their own housing and field hospitals. This is important as the local resources are likely to be stretched already in the event of a disaster or other event which is large enough and serious enough to warrant the involvement of DMATs. A DMAT will comprise of various medical professionals, all of whom must undertake and maintain appropriate training. DMAT team members are on standby 24 hours a day, and in the event of DMAT deployment they will be notified and attend the scene within 12 hours, although the urgency of the situation usually means that most will attend immediately (McEntire).

Across the U.S. DMATs have been deployed to a wide variety of natural and man-made disasters over the last two decades. These have included terrorist attacks such as that on 9/11, epidemics such as the anthrax attacks in the same year, wild fires, blizzards, plane crashes and earthquakes. The two types of natural disaster in which they have predominantly been used are hurricanes and floods (Mace).

South FL DMAT-5

South FL DMAT-5 is the South Florida Disaster Medical Assistance Team. Upon deployment the responsibility of the team is to provide medical care to the sick and injured. This may mean using the local hospital facilities or it may mean setting up their own field hospital or mobile units if there are no other resources available in terms of permanent medical facilities. The team may also be required to participate in patient care and transportation, moving victims of the disaster away from the site. This is usually only a part of the duties of the DMAT if the victims are considered to be in immediate danger, as there are other agencies which deal with this in non-urgent situations.

The team is comprised of predominantly doctors, nurses, paramedics and EMTs. However there are also a number of support staff such as pharmacists, communications personnel and logistics personnel which all ensures that the continual running of the team once it has been deployed. Although the team is designed to provide medical assistance at the site of disaster it is also essential to have the support team members in place if the team is able to fulfill its various roles. The team must take with them all their own supplies, as there is no guarantee that resources will be available at the disaster site. This means that the logistics members of the DMAT are crucial. Communications staff are also crucial, as the usual methods of communication may also not be available at the disaster site. It is very likely that at the scene of natural disasters the telephone lines will be damaged and telephone calls, both landline and mobile, will not be possible. It is essential that the team be able to communicate with each other and outside facilities to arrange the transfer of critically ill patients to facilities outside of the disaster zone.

South FL DMAT-5 also operates as one of three FEMA International Medical Surgical Response Teams, which are highly specialized DMATs which are able to set up and run their own freestanding hospital facilities (Young). This means that FL DMAT-5 is particularly suited to being deployed to the hurricanes which are prone in the area. Often hurricanes disable the hospitals in the area of the hurricane through the damage which they cause. This means that DMATs are more useful in the situation if they are able to operate completely independently from the permanent medical facilities, such as FL DMAT-5 is able.

The South Florida DMAT, like all DMATs, is available to be deployed to a number of disasters. They have so far, however, only been deployed to two disaster, which have been Hurricane Charley, which hit in Florida, and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Despite only having so far been deployed to two disasters, these have been very large scale incidents in which the role played by the DMAT has been indispensible. The team also ensures that they remain ready for deployment through drills in the Florida Keys (South Florida DMAT FL 5). This ensures that the disaster management skills of the team are always kept up-to-date so that they are able to deal with disaster medical management in an efficient way. This is expected, as in the event of a disaster there would likely be a large number of other medical and support staff who look to the team for instruction.

Hurricane Charley

Hurricane Charley hit Punta Gorda in Florida in August 2004, and was one of four hurricanes in total to hit Florida during 2004. Hurricane Charley struck on August 13 and rated a Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale which indicated large potential for property damage and flooding. Due to the overwhelming need for medical services the South Florida DMAT was deployed in response to the Hurricane Charley. They were deployed specifically to deal with the victims of the hurricane in Charlotte County, where all four hospitals had been damaged by the hurricane, and were struggling to deal with the huge influx of patients.

The disaster was also characterized by the patients who presented due to the higher than average numbers of elderly residents in that area. Overall, 45% of the population of Charlotte County was aged 65 or over. This meant that there was an urgent need to ensure that medical treatment was in place, since the elderly were placed at much greater risk from the disasters than many other groups.

When the hurricane hit, it was with only three hours warning as the original indicators were that the storm would hit around 70 miles further North of Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda. This left little time for appropriate preparations to be made. Overall the hurricane caused $14 billion worth of property damage and killed resulted in 31 deaths across the state. The hurricane caused loss of electrical power as soon as it hit land, and caused problems with running water and sewage systems, all of which led to problems in day-to-day living for the residents. This also severely handicapped all rescue efforts as it limited necessary resources to ensure that the injured and homeless could be looked after properly. The lack of electricity caused particular problems. Where generators would normally be used to produce electricity in place of mains electricity, many gas stations across the state had been severely damaged, and the pumps would not pump gas without a supply of electricity themselves. The hurricane also caused problems with communication as extensive numbers of telephone lines were down in the area. This made it difficult for people to contact family to arrange alternative accommodation, and also for people to telephone for assistance if needed.

The large proportion of elderly in the population meant that these problems had even more important consequences in the state as they put the elderly directly at risk. Pre-existing health conditions make it difficult for the elderly to go without regular medical care, which was severely disabled by the storm. The lack of amenities also puts the elderly more at risk.

The damage which was suffered by the hospitals in the area meant that there was a need to involve the DMAT in order to provide immediate shelter, working emergency medical facilities, functioning pharmacies and an ability to refill home oxygen tanks.

Preparation

The South FL DMAT-5 was put on alert on August 11, which meant that they must be ready to deploy to the site of a possible disaster within 2 hours of being called. This resulted in supplies being preloaded for the mission and all personnel being packed ready to leave immediately should the call come. The team was deployed to the disaster at 1.30am on August 14, 2004. Although at this stage South FL DMAT-5 had no practical experience as a team of being deployed to a disaster site, the training they had ensured that they were well prepared. The availability of a DMAT in the area saved valuable time in raising a response, as without this the local healthcare facilities would have needed to organize a response themselves. This would have involved contacting people who may not… READ MORE

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