As if we couldn't get any busier, now we've got a deployment thrown into the mix! See the latest Hot News for our planned upcoming May mission. Good luck to all those on the roster! We still have the Integrated Training Summit in a few weeks, as well as May on-call (although unlikely that we'd be called upon since we've already got a May mission), followed closely by our June meeting.

Were You Really Ready?
We activated our notification system last week to roster for this mission. If you didn't get the phone calls and email messages, then you should follow up on that by double-checking your contact info (see Administrivia below). If you got the call, this was a great example of the minimal information and fast turn-around time involved in an activation, where you will have to make a quick decision based on little information. Were you really ready to go? Many people asked us about additional gear and uniforms (even some people who responded "ready to go"!), some asked for website login instructions, others for USERRA letters for your employers, and yet others started sending in updates to missing or expired information to "boost" their tier status. If you were one of those people, then you need to re-think your readiness. Use this recent activity as a what-if scenario; would you have been able to get out the door in 4 hours, without assistance from the team? In our line of work, we need everyone to be truly ready to go!

After a few years, most healthcare professionals will develop a certain level of comfort in their chosen field of practice. Our work may be more or less predictable, and we are confident in our ability to cope with whatever comes through the door. So, how many of us, jumping into the middle of a disaster or mass casualty event, would be more boon than burden? Despite your desire to help, how many of us would have a clue about how to triage patients exposed to radiation or recognize the differences between pneumonic plague and anthrax exposure? Does anyone feel that the occasional hospital-based disaster drill has sufficiently prepared us to know how to decontaminate patients exposed to radioactive material when the water supply fails? If you learned about emergency preparedness and disaster response in school, you are among the lucky few.

Regretfully, recent events, including hurricanes and terrorist attacks, have highlighted how inadequately prepared we are to manage disasters, be it caused by nature or by man. If there is a silver lining, it is that many people are now dedicated to upgrading our responses to natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes, large scale accidents, and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) events. The question is not if natural or manmade disasters will happen again, but when, and if we will be prepared to manage them. Our nation's 2.9 million healthcare professionals are on the front line in every phase of caring for victims of disaster. Providing medical care at such a time is not easy. Uncontrolled physical environments, scarce human and material resources, and even personal risk can all be faced by responders in the field. Although this may be part of the appeal for some, these uncertainties highlight the importance of organized response systems.

The most important message for healthcare professionals who wish to help in the immediate aftermath of a disaster is that they should never deploy outside of an organized response system. Healthcare professionals who just show up at an accident or disaster site (called "spontaneous", "convergent" or "unaffiliated" volunteers) are unknown entities to command and control personnel and cannot be used to their full potential. Those in charge of relief efforts won't know who you are, what your abilities or educational background are, or even if your license is valid. There will probably be no on-site process for validating your professional status. In some cases, it merely creates more work for those leading the response operation to deal with spontaneous volunteers. And, although it seems hard to believe, about 10% of the people showing up spontaneously at the site of a disaster claiming to be healthcare providers are not what they claim to be.

Most of us received little, if any, disaster preparedness education in school. A 2003 survey of 2013 schools of nursing (348 responding) revealed that only 53% offered content in disaster preparedness, and a mean of 4 hours was devoted to this content. In general, school faculties were inadequately prepared to teach disaster preparedness content. If you register with an organized response system, specialized training will be required. However, many healthcare professionals, for one reason or another, are not able to deploy to the site of a disaster but want to be ready when disaster comes to them.

Here in a DMAT, it's our responsibility to become educated about caring for victims of a disaster, and we take that seriously through our training curriculum. In addition, several online training courses are offered at no charge, and some even offer free continuing education credits for nurses and other healthcare professionals. Responder-eLearn has several online courses for NDMS members to take. Get a jump on things, take the classes, be prepared. Be one of those “front line healthcare professionals”!

Travel Card Training & Agreement

About 75% of our team members have taken this training and submitted their signed Travel Agreements. If you are in the remaining 25%, do it now because your travel card is now suspended.

The bonus is that it’s paid training. You will get paid one hour for doing this work. Submitting your timecard (found on the website) as an attachment (instructions for completing the timecard were in the e-mail sent by David last week), will also allow us to verify if you are still in the federal pay system (see below re: myPay). We would rather work out any pay issues now than after a deployment. The deadline for submitting timesheets this pay period is WEDNESDAY, May 2, AT NOON. Please don’t delay.

Note: after you submit your timecard (before the deadline) you should expect to see a direct deposit in your bank from DFAS by Friday May 11. If you don’t see this deposit, follow the myPay instructions below.

myPay
Much of this information is the same as in last month’s newsletter. However, of 100+ team members, I’ve heard from less than 20 people about this. Most of these were people who didn’t get paid for their travel card training. Please don’t wait until you don’t get paid! Take the steps below and we’ll fix any errors before you miss a paycheck.

HHS may deactivate your payroll information if you have not been paid recently. NDMS is working with HHS to correct this problem. If you are not in myPay, we cannot pay you when we deploy or when you work on paid activities. Please go to myPay now (see link under Other Member Sites) and make sure you can access your information and verify that it is correct.  After you access myPay follow the appropriate instructions below.

a)     If you can’t access myPay let me know. 

b)     If you can access myPay and need to update your information, please do so and let me know what the changes are.

c)     If you can access myPay and can’t update your information let me know. 

d)     If you can access myPay and everything is correct let me know.

Credit Card Renewals
Check the expiration date on your federal credit card.  If you haven’t received a card within TWO WEEKS of the expiration date, let me know.

ID Badge Renewals
Check the expiration date on your ID badge.  If it’s within TWO MONTHS of the expiration date (not before) go to NDMS ID Card Renewal under Forms & Instructions and complete the form you find there.  The instructions are on the website. 

Website Information
Also, please confirm your contact information by updating your profile in the notification system (link under Notification System on the Forms & Instructions page).  If you aren’t sure about your Emergency Contact information, just send us another form (link under Emergency Contacts & Family Support on the Forms & Instructions page), and we’ll add it in.

Remember, if we can’t contact you when we get the call to deploy, we won’t try for very long to reach you.  We’ll go to the next person up for that position.  You don’t want to miss that call, so check your information soon!!!

Change of Address, etc.
As always, let me know when you move, change phone numbers, banks, etc.  There are things you and I both need to do.  ONE OF THESE ITEMS IS TO CHANGE YOUR INFORMATION IN myPAY (see the myPay information above).  It’s how you get paid, so don’t delay.

The Plans Section has been tasked with several very important responsibilities. We can use your help as we determine more important ways to serve the team and our members. Please let us know if you are willing to help, and let us know if you know of awards and accolades of CA-6ers (yourself included) that we can share in our newsletter.

The Family Support Unit, led by Patrick Champeau, is ready to help team members and their families during deployments. We developed a new procedure after the Haiti deployment, but have not yet had the opportunity to test our plan. This is a good time to review our Family Support services and to review your Emergency Contact information. To learn more about Family Support click the Emergency Contacts & Family Support link on the Forms & Instructions page.

To volunteer to be part of Family Support, indicate your willingness every time we have an Event Signup.

The Preceptoring Unit is headed by Mark Weston with the able assistance of Roger Harper (Recruiting & Retention Unit). The purpose of the unit is to welcome new members, help them get ready for deployment, and generally help new members become fully integrated with the team. To volunteer to mentor a new team member, contact Mark Weston.

The Training Unit is looking for facilitators for team meetings. We have contacting folks to help out, but now that we know that the facilitators are appreciated by speakers and well as the team members, it’s time to ask everyone to participate. To volunteer as a facilitator for team meetings, contact Kathy Burgardt.

Member Updates

Davis Perkins, CA-6 paramedic, is also an accomplished artist (you can see his work at the Smithsonian as well as locally). You can read about Davis and his paintings, which were featured in a recent article in the Marin Independent Journal.

Joe Telles is officially on the road. He began his Pacific Crest Trail trek April 28. While some of us were walking two miles at Lake Chabot, Joe was beginning his walk from Mexico to Canada. Here’s an excerpt from the beginning of the trek:

We caught a ride to the border from a trail angel named "Little Brown." Little Brown retired from UPS but he is still in the delivery business, delivering hikers. Once at the border we had the obligatory start picture taken... We arrived at Lake Moreno at 1:30 pm. I did well today; no foot problems. Had fun changing speeds a lot, I enjoy hiking that way. At camp I attended a talk on overuse injuries.

Anna and Steve Land, both members of CA-6, are the proud parents of a new baby boy. Colt was born April 5. Vital statistics: 7lbs 15oz, 19in. Welcome, Colt!

For the next three months, I will be hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. The Pacific Crest Trail is a 2650 mile trail that goes from the Mexican border to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington. In my absence our Deputy Logistics Chief Hunter will be responsible for the Logistics Section of CA-6. As I do, Hunter will need your assistance to successfully carry out his duties.

We are still in the process of closing out our Moffett Field warehouse footprint, transferring equipment and supplies up to the new HHS facility near Sacramento and our smaller storage area in Santa Clara. The majority of this work was done over the past month or so, so we took a big step in reaching our goal. Logistic folks can expect Hunter to ask for your assistance in completing our move and also asking for volunteers to learn how to mobilize our equipment from our new location when our team is deployed.

In a deployment month, we should all be thinking of our own personal logistics and how we are going to deploy. Two of the questions that we need to ask ourselves on a deployment month: Am I prepared for deployment? Is my family prepared for my deployment?

Everybody who is deployable should have their gear packed and ready to go. You should have a plan to get to your gear based on where you are and how much time is given to you to prepare for deployment. If you are at work or away from your home, you need to have a contingency plan for getting your gear to you, especially if time is at a premium. Carry it in your trunk, or arrange for family, friends, or fellow team members to bring your gear to you if needed. If your gear is unpacked and disorganized, the option of others bringing you your gear isn’t really an option!

Have a list of people that need to be contacted when you deploy. Family and your employer obviously need to be notified. Look at your schedule this month and see what appointments and commitments you have so that you can contact if possible the people or organizations involved to make cancellations or other arrangements.

Your family members should be prepared for your deployment ideally before you are deployed. You should discuss with them what you are expected to do during a deployment, go over who to contact during an emergency during your absence, family or friends that are able to provide assistance, and also team resources that are available to them such as our home team and the team web site.

If deployed this month, please be safe! Hunter, good luck and thank you! I hope to see all of you upon my return in August.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has a very good website, Eatright.org. For those of us attending the Integrated Training Summit in Nashville this month, and for those of us who ever find ourselves eating in a restaurant, the website has some good tips.

When eating out, the Academy recommends you order appetizers, baked and broiled protein, and fruits and vegetables. There are additional ways to downsize your portions: divide the meal in half and ask for a container to go, share an entre with your dining companion, or order a kid’s meal.

Intrepid CA-6ers met at Lake Chabot on Apr 28 for a two-mile hike along the banks of Lake Chabot. Security was provided by Max the Wonder Dog and medical backup was provided by Vivian Reyes. Fortunately, neither had to act in a professional capacity. Watch the team website for time and dates of future walks.

Don’t forget to walk whenever you can: from the farther end of the parking lot, around the block after dinner, whenever you can get a group together.

Check out the website for more great nutrition suggestions.

After conducting my first 30+ gear inspections as part of the CA-6’s Logs Section, there have been some flashes of the insight that I’d like to share in order to make this mandatory experience as efficient and smooth as possible.

For the new member (less than 3 deployments):

1. Go through both your “Go ” bag and “Loadout” bag to ensure that that all required items are present and meet specifications (color, size, etc….) per the CA-6 Personal Gear Inspection Sheet. This gear sheet details minimum standards.
2. Make sure that these items are located in the proper bag. Once you are separated from your Loadout bag for an extended period of time (such as at the airport or loaded onto the wrong truck), you’ll never forget.
3. Know where each item is inside each bag to expedite the inspection process (this can cut minutes off the entire inspection process).
4. If you have any questions, please ask the nearest Logs section member or email Logs for advice. We’ll make sure to answer your questions quickly.
5. Your first two inspections will be conducted with increasing thoroughness. Your third gear inspection will be conducted with minimal latitude.

For the experienced member:

1. Check your bag the night before you are due for an inspection. You’d be surprised at the number of experienced members who are still missing mandatory items!
2. Check those supplies that might have been used up during the last deployment. There may be items that you forgot to replenish such as toiletries, personal meds, or fresh batteries.
3. Double-check your bag against the latest Gear Inspection Sheet (see web link above). These sheets are reviewed and updated with changes to specifications.  These changes are in accordance with the latest TSA and NDMS policies.
4. Make sure to rehab your gear so that it’s still in working order.
5. Change out/ wash those old civilian clothes that have been in storage for the last few years.
6. Please don’t think that experience exempts you from the inspection process. The same standards and checklist applies to all members.
7. Your third gear inspection will be conducted with minimal latitude.

Don Cheu, Team Commander.
Welcome to the first edition of the CA-6 Newsletter with a lot of thanks to Luis Diaz for his efforts. I would like to thank all of you for your efforts in elevating CA-6 from a Level III team to a Level II team in 12 months. No other team, as far as I kow, has advanced so rapidly.

Ron and Diane Buckhout have taken a temporary leave from CA-6 as they are moving to Saudi Arabia for a two-year period. In the meantime, David Lipin has graciously agreed to become the Deputy Commander of the team, replacing Ron.

New DMAT teams include: GA-4, MO-1, TX-3, and TX-4.

Luis Diaz, Membership
Now with members settling in, uniformed and demonstrating the desire to serve, our leadership needs each member’s support toward the goal of a ready, practiced and deployable team. Talent, and energy of all sorts, is needed to keep the team moving forward.

Darrel Lee, Communications
Training [in communications] is on hold until further decisions from NDMS in Washington, DC. Funding is not available at this time for a special class for DMAT CA-6.

Ellen Nave, Logistics Chief
Steve LaPlante has agreed to take on the Logistics Chief role while Ellen takes several months off with a new baby due in the first week of May.

NDMS sent us a number of storage containers for our supplies. We held a work party on Feb 20 at the Menlo Park storage site to go through our supplies (which were stored in cardboard boxes) and transfer them into the new containers. We also labeled the containers, marked some of the equipment, and did numerous other tasks. We owe a special thanks to everyone who participated, especially Dave Lipin, Equip/Supplies Chair, for all of his hard work!