Medical wing stands ready for hurricane response

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. David Herndon
  • 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  Commanders at Wilford Hall Medical Center have approved a plan slated to improve medical responses to hurricane emergencies throughout the continental United States.

The 59th Medical Wing’s Critical Care Air Transport Team Rapid Hurricane Response Plan was approved and adopted May 26. Hurricane season began June 1.

“The newly designed program’s aim is to be forward-thinking and have people consider what could possibly happen in a hurricane prior to the event,” said Capt. Shaun Westphal, CCATT pilot unit nurse manager and creator of the response team program. “The program is slated to provide advanced preparation, prompt notification and rapid mobilization with responses to possible national medical emergencies that require CCATT support.”

The plan is a collaborative effort between the CCATT pilot unit, 59th Readiness Squadron and 59th Aeromedical Staging Flight and will bring rapid medical care in the event of a natural disaster, Captain Westphal said.

“The CCATT pilot unit has six teams standing by at all times for hurricane response. Each team consists of a critical care physician, a critical care nurse and a cardiopulmonary technician,” said Maj. (Dr.) Mike Meyer, CCATT pilot unit medical director and pediatric intensive care unit physician.

“We exhausted our basic resources ... with the two hurricanes last year. Now we are focusing on having all of our gear, documentation and people ready to go,” Captain Westphal said.

“We did a terrific job putting seven teams into the air in a very short time period as we built a plan based on incomplete data, but we took a beating with the past hurricane season since we did not have a contingency plan in place," the major said.

"Our Hurricane Katrina and Rita experiences served as lessons learned as we built the current response plan," Major Meyer said. "This program will show the advanced preparation we are taking.” 

Development of documentation boxes is just one of the time-consuming processes necessary for CCATT missions. These boxes hold manuals needed for missions aboard different types of aircraft, said Staff Sgt. Michelle Ransdell, CCATT member.

“With a forward approach to getting all of these tasks taken care of, it will ultimately alleviate a lot of stress and save time when urgent events call for the need of CCAT,” Sergeant Ransdell said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts an 80-percent chance of an above-normal hurricane season, a 15-percent chance of a near-normal season, and only a 5-percent chance of a below-normal season.

“We would love for there not to be a single hurricane this year, but if one happens to occur, we are prepared,” Captain Westphal said.