EDITORS: SHEILA HALL AND TERRY SWANSON
April/May 2006
LEARNING MORE ABOUT OUR TEAM MEMBERS
CAROLINE CALIGURI
Caroline Caliguri
is an
Mrs. Caliguri received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in
Anthropology, graduating Magna Cum Laude,
from
Since 1998, Caroline has been an active member of The Ohio Funeral Directors Association’s Mortuary Response Team (OFDA MRT) – she has attended numerous trainings and has assisted the organization at their drills, presentations, and conventions. She is also a member of the Ohio Funeral Directors Association, as well as the Cincinnati Firefighter’s Auxiliary.
Influenced by her close affiliation with the OFDA MRT, Caroline joined DMORT V in 2000. Since that time, she has been deployed several times: The World Trade Center
Tragedy (New York 2001); American Airlines Flight 587 Crash
(New York 2001); and Hurricane Katrina (
Caroline and her husband – Nick, a Cincinnati Fire
Lieutenant - have been married for ten years. They reside in
Guinness. When she finds leisure time from the family
business and her energetic 2-year-old, Caroline enjoys traveling, gardening,
yoga, and attending
DMORT V is beaming “wall-to-wall” with Caroline as our team member!
2006 NDMS ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The NDMS National Conference was held in
The following were Conference Goals: to deliver an understanding of the health and medical requirements generated by disasters of any origin; provide access to authorities responsible for managing these requirements; afford opportunities for the delivery of education and the exchange of ideas necessary to the development of capabilities at the local, state, regional, national, and international levels.
Conference Objectives included: conveying the principles which underlie professional emergency health and medical service delivery; documenting the status of the profession as of 2006; encouraging participants to engage in continuing education, training, research, and information sharing, to enable further development of this Nation’s lifesaving systems.
For those DMORT members who were unable to attend, the following is a brief recap of the DMORT portion of the program.
Pre-Conference Course:
Mass Fatalities Train the Trainer, Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team
Speakers:
Todd Ellis, DMORT Region VI Commander
David McBath, DMORT Region II
Chuck Smith, DMORT Region VI Deputy Commander
Cotton Howell, DMORT Region IV Commander
Jennie Thommen, DMORT FAC Commander
The panel of speakers at this two-day pre-conference course discussed a wide range of subjects, pertaining to a Mass Fatality Incident (MFI): components of NIMS (National Incident Management System), benefits of ICS (Incident Command System), characteristics of a MFI, steps required to respond to a MFI, the roles and responsibilities of key personnel, incident morgue requirements, federal resources, and victim support plans. This course enabled participants to describe the operational process and tasks involved in conducting a response to a MFI; understand the stresses, reactions, and stress management techniques utilized in a MFI; and evaluate the readiness of their agency and jurisdiction to execute these operations.
Conference
Courses:
General Session,
Emergency Support Function #8 / National Disaster Medical System: Response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
Speakers: Arnie Bierenbaum, Department of Veterans
Affairs; Carol Hall, American Red Cross; CAPT Andrew Stevermer, USPHS, ARNP;
CDR Mick Core, USPHS
Representatives from the Department(s) of Defense, Health
and Human Services, Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, and the American Red
Cross shared their individual agency perspectives and discussed interagency
operations during two of the most historic natural disasters in
DMORT Adapts to
Intolerable Circumstances - Katrina: The First 72 Hours
Speaker: Doug McKown,
F-ABMDI, DMORT Region IV
During the 2005 hurricane season, unprecedented death and
destruction occurred in the
destruction and mass fatalities to two areas, which were
only seventy miles apart. Doug McKown
explained the various ways in which the responders were housed in the austere
conditions in
General Session,
Pandemic Flu: Planning and Responding to a Worldwide Threat
Speakers: Howard Backer, MD, MPH; Gary Osman, MD, MPH;
Benjamin Schwartz, MD
This presentation described the pandemic influenza threat, highlighting the H5NI avian influenza situation. It explained the potential impacts of a pandemic threat, summarized critical response activities, and reviewed the planning and preparedness activities that will increase the effectiveness of a response at the local, state, and Federal levels.
Where It All Comes Together: Information Resources
Speakers: Donald
Bloom, DMORT FAC Deputy Commander
David Hunt, DMORT Region V Training Officer
Brad Targhetta, DMORT Region V Deputy Commander
The management of fatality-related data is critical to the successful outcome of a mass fatality operation. A shortage of qualified personnel for this job was apparent during the 2005 hurricane responses. This session utilized the Disaster Portable Morgue Unit (DPMU) Information Resources equipment to provide an active, hands-on exercise designed for those DMORT people who have a basic knowledge of computer data entry. After a period of instruction, attendees were presented with a mock set of ante and post mortem data and were tasked with entering that data into the VIP program. The VIP program was updated to FileMaker 8 during the last deployment. There was a review of the new sign-in, password features, time stamping, record locking, and an overview of the types of reports generated during deployment. The standard operating procedures for working with the VIP program in the Information Resources section were discussed. This exercise gave attendees a basic understanding of how to create new records and search for identifying characteristics.
From Ordinary to
Extraordinary: DMORT Workers
Speaker: Denise Bulling, MA, LPC
Work at a disaster is grueling, as all NDMS personnel know. There are long hours, shortages, inconveniences, and lack of sleep. DMORT members have selected themselves for a job that not many people can or are willing to do - work with human remains. Exposure to traumatic death is significantly related to later symptoms of intrusion and avoidance. In this presentation, Denise Bulling described what could be done about the emotional and psychological risks associated with this work. She also addressed the things that can be done before the workers leave the job and after they get home that will mitigate the stress effects. This session discussed the DMORT member, the unique stressors they encounter, and ways in which their organization, family, and friends can help reduce the stress response.
Hurricane
Deployment Overview
Speaker: Chuck Smith, DMORT Region VI Deputy Commander
This presentation encompassed the DMORT response to the
largest natural disaster in
Mr. Smith discussed in detail the West Morgue
Operations. The three components of the
2005 DMORT response were Forward Operations, FAC-FENCE, and Morgue Operations
at both St. Gabriel and Carville. He
expounded in greater detail the statistics of these missions. The difficulties
of these missions were discussed, such as the lack of businesses, hotels, food,
water, and amenities. Problems in
An Update on
Coordination of the Federal Mass Fatality Response
Speaker: Dale Downey, DMORT WMD Commander
Ann Norwood, MD
A work group of local, state, and Federal experts in mass fatalities participated in the revision of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Target Capability List (TCL) for Fatality Management. A Federal-level Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Emergency Support Function #8 subgroup was formed to examine mass fatality issues. Federal-level government and association stakeholders in fatality management are working together to improve Federal preparedness and response activities across all incidents, e.g. crime/terrorism (FBI), transportation accidents (NTSB), and natural disasters (HHS/DHS and the NDMS Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams). As work progresses, there will be greater involvement from state and local stakeholders. This presentation updated participants on the progress of this process.
DMORT Team Meeting
All ten DMORT regions, the DPMU team, the DMORT Family
Assistance Core Group (FACG), and the WMD team were represented at a DMORT Team
Meeting, during the NDMS Conference in
DPMU- The DPMU is now a Stand Alone Team.
Shannon Dotson is the new DPMU Commander.
The DPMU team will increase team membership to 25 by June 2006; there are
currently 6 members.
FACG- The FACG Is now a Stand Alone Team. There are currently 25 team members.
New
leadership positions: Commander- Jennie
Thommen
Deputy Commander- Don Bloom
Administrative Officer- Arbie Going
Training Office- Warren
Tewes
WMD - The WMD team is a Stand Alone Team.
Note: The “Stand Alone Teams” are still part of
DMORT
Search and Recovery Teams - There will be a 25-person Search and Recovery Team on each regional team. They will have specialized training and equipment.
Region I - New Administrative Officer: Robert Plante
Region IX- New Training Officer: TBA
Cotton Howell (Region IV Commander) addressed team members on the issue of “self deployment.” The proper channels for deployment must be followed following a mass fatality incident. This involves keeping in touch with your Administrative Officer and Team Commander regarding your dates of availability. Self-deployment will not be tolerated.
Buddy
Jack Beall (Chief, NDMS Section) discussed DMORT team funding and distribution.
2006 NDMS ANNUAL CONFERENCE AWARDS
“On
behalf of the partners of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), the
Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of
Health and Human Services, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, I wish to
extend our sincere appreciation to all of you for your outstanding dedication
and hard work during the extraordinary events that have taken place during the
last year. Through you, we are able to fulfill our mission to serve our
Nation’s citizens in times of extraordinary need. I look forward to our
continued partnership as we face whatever challenges lie ahead.”
Jack
W. Beall
Chief
National
Disaster Medical System Section
CONGRATULATIONS
The 2006 NDMS
Conference Awards Ceremony was held in
DMORT I James Mockler
DMORT
II John “Cliff”
Oldfield
DMORT III John M. Carson, D.D.S.
DMORT IV Bobby Wyatt
DMORT V David Hunt
DMORT VI David Hawthorne
DMORT VII James M. Fullerton
DMORT VIII Jeffrey Andrew Zealley
DMORT IX James J. Cullen
DMORT X Frank Sebastian
DMORT WMD
DMORT DPMU Michael Gedert
DMORT FAC Warren Tewes
DMORT Regions were also recognized at the awards ceremony for their participation in these events:
TOPOFF III, April 2005 DMORT II, IV, WMD
Hurricane Katrina, August 2005 DMORT I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX,
X, DPMU, WMD, FAC
Congratulations to all of
the recipients and anyone else who was recognized at this event!
2007 NDMS ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Location and date:
TBA
Scott Smith (Region II Training Officer) will be the new DMORT Program Director for the Annual NDMS Conferences. He succeeds Duane Bigoni (Region X Commander) who had held this position for several years.
REGION V ANNOUNCEMENTS
The DPMU, FAC and WMD specialty teams have now become
stand-alone teams and dual membership with Regional teams is no longer
possible.
It is with mixed sadness and pride that we announce the following shifts in
membership:
Shannon Dotson has become the
Commander of the DPMU Team and Bob
Shank, Jr. (our longtime Deputy Commander) will serve as the DPMU Deputy
Commander. Joining them on the DPMU Team are Bob "Bubba" Stevens (our founding DMART proprietor), Mike Gedert (our Training
Officer/Assistant Training Officer), Scott
Davis (our Logistics Officer), and Jim
"Smokey" Weldy.
Don Bloom (the inventor of VIP) has
become the Deputy Commander of the FAC; Todd
Grisier and Anthony Qualiero, Jr. will
join him.
Roger Lunt, Howard
Cooper, Tom Stachowiecz, and Gerrit Bunschoten have moved to the WMD
team.
All of the above have played major roles in creating the Region V Team and
DMORT itself as we know and appreciate it today. They shall be greatly
missed individually and personally, but we suspect that their greatest
contributions are yet to come as DMORT and NDMS continue to learn from our past
missions and plan for the future.
Fortunately, Region V has many talented team members.
Dave Hunt will
fill the Deputy Commander's position vacated by Bob Shank, Jr.
Eric Larson will fill the Logistics
Officer's position vacated by Scott
Davis (who will actually serve as the DPMU POC for Region V in addition to
his other DPMU responsibilities).
Jan Simons will become our new
Training Officer, filling the TO position
vacated by Dave Hunt.
Dr. Jim Adams has volunteered to
assume some of Bubba's DMART activities - stay tuned.
HOUSEKEEPING CORNER
SUE ATWOOD
Administrative Officer
The expiration on your 2006 ID cards has been extended. The 2007 ID cards will only be issued after background security checks are performed and fingerprints taken. This service will be provided at our June training. For those of you not attending training, stay tuned for further direction.
Current licenses must be on file and immunizations must be up-to-date with a copy on file, in order to be considered deployable. Having current banking information on file helps ensure prompt payment. Notice I did not say 'guarantee' payment. I know there were several of you who waited and a few who are still waiting for payment from last year’s hurricanes. Participation in our regional training and/or attendance at the annual NDMS conference is strongly encouraged.
As we approach hurricane season this year, be mindful of the situation we might be going into and pack accordingly. Last year caught many of us by surprise. Past experience always had us in a hotel-type sleeping arrangement, but we now know that may not always be the case.
REGION V ANNUAL TRAINING
June 2-4, 2006
Region V’s Annual Training will include presentations of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita from several viewpoints.
Chuck Smith (Region VI Deputy Commander) and Amy Taylor (Region VI) will discuss their experiences and the challenges they faced during the deployment.
Doug “Bigun” McKown (Region IV) will address the challenges of working in austere conditions when the infrastructure of the community no longer exists.
David Hunt (Region V Deputy Commander) and Sean Wilson (Region V) will review the challenges of Search and Recovery operations.
David Hunt will include a discussion about the formation of a Search and Recovery Team, anticipated for each DMORT region.
A mandatory 2-hour sexual harassment class will be presented.
Detective Inspector
Team members represent Region V at the NDMS Conference in Reno
