43
Valley team stands ready for Haiti call
LPN Karen Bata of Hubbard said she joined the team to help people in need.
Photo
(Left-Right) Nurses (RNs) Lynne Clute and Perse Diakakis and Social Workers Diane Sharneck and Carrie Galbreath distribute food, medical supplies, and hygiene products, donated by Diane Reese of Briar Field Manor, to members of a St. Elizabeth sponsored emergency team at St. Elizabeths on Tuesday evening.
YOUNGSTOWN — The North Eastern Ohio Disaster Medical Assistance Team is gearing up for possible deployment to Haiti.
“We don’t have alert orders, but we are on a monthly rotating schedule — and February is our month,” said Douglas Broderick, commander of NEO-DMAT OH-6, as the team is officially known.
Team members meet once a month for training. But Tuesday’s meeting seemed to have a special urgency.
Supplies, such as mosquito repellent and hand sanitizers, were passed out, and the training, conducted by team Deputy Commander Roger Bair, was on dehydration and how and what to pack for austere conditions.
“We go out as a 35-member medical team, with doctors, nurses, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and social workers,” said Bair, a retired General Motors Lordstown Complex employee and former Lords-town village fire chief.
The medical assistance team works under the auspices of the National Disaster Medical System, a federally coordinated system under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, that augments the nation’s medical response capability. The local team is sponsored by St. Elizabeth Health Center.
In the early 1990s, when Karen Bata of Hubbard joined the team, it was all volunteer work. Now, said Bata, a licensed practical nurse, when deployed, team members are paid part-time federal employees.
Bata, a surgical technician in the operating room at St. Elizabeth, whose specialty is suturing, said she joined the team to help people in need, which was a common theme among the team members.
“We want to help people,” said Paula Weigand, a registered nurse from Cuyahoga Falls, who works for Dr. William Schukay’s private family practice in Akron.
NEO-DMAT OH-6 has deployed many times over the years to natural disasters including Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, events such as the Salt Lake City Olympics and the Republican National Convention, and at ground zero at the World Trade Center in 2001.
NEO-DMAT OH-6 is a very experienced team with multiple deployments together, said Broderick, who works in the engineering department at St. Elizabeth.
“But, every deployment is different, and you never know what to expect,” Broderick said.
“Sometimes, we work 18-20 hour days,” Dr. Schukay said.
“One thing for sure: You can’t imagine the level of destruction from reading newspapers and watching television. It is always much worse,” Broderick said.
alcorn@vindy.com