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Ladies and Gentlemen -
Our agency received a broadcast message through the Indiana Department of Homeland Security for deployment of medical personnel to support the state of Louisiana. We received a similar request for support in the state of Mississippi. These requests went to all of the EMAC states. The requests seek medical personnel to assist in "mass care facilities or in the field setting up field hospitals and special need shelters." The requests seek physicians (especially in the areas of ER, Pediatrics, and Surgery), nurses (RN or LPN certified), and respiratory therapists.

The IDHS is currently assembling a task force composed of multiple disciplines (e.g., police, fire and rescue, emergency management, mental health), including medical assets responsive to the requests sent to our agency. They expect to deploy this task force within the next 48 hours.

The EMAC provides for reimbursement to states only for state assets. The Governor's office is currently working on an Executive Order or reviewing other means to identify and characterize local government and and private personnel as state assets for purposes of this deployment. In anticipation of that moving forward, we are soliciting prospective volunteers to join in the IDHS Indiana task force. I will send a follow up note to prospective volunteers on the status of the reimbursement issue once it is resolved.

If you or any of your staff are interested in volunteering for this deployment, please respond directly to Michael Hurst, ISDH, at mhurst@isdh.IN.gov, as quickly as possible. Please provide the following information with your response:

1. Your name and agency or employer.
2. Your professional credential (e.g, nursing license, current/not current, and license #)
3. Your salary and fringe benefits calculated for a two-week period. (Please get this from your HR Department).
4. All of your contact information, including email and fax number.
5. Your length of availability. (Deployments are usually 10-14 days).
6. Any special needs or accommodations that you would have in a deployment.
7. Any vehicles or equipment that you can bring (e.g., ambulances).

As noted above, at this point we are simply putting together a roster of volunteers with required information for IDHS and FEMA. If deployed, and IDHS and the requesting state would determine that once the reimbursement issue is resolved and after they review the information on prospective volunteers, you would receive your regular pay from your employer, and your employer would be reimbursed by the requesting state (LA or MI). Transportation and other logistics would be arranged by the IDHS. Understand that the working conditions will be onerous, complete with mosquitoes, snakes and alligators, and volunteers would need to be self-contained (e.g., carrying on your person everything that you would need for personal support during the deployment).

Thank you for considering this request.

Kind regards,
Michael Hurst
ISDH, Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Response.
 

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