NH Jax 'Rapid Response Team' among first to care for quake victims

They were sent to reinforce surgical and intensive care capabilities at the hospital as the Guantanamo facility took casualties from the Jan. 12 Haiti earthquake.

The team led by Flint, includes Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist Cmdr. Carol Daniel; Critical Care Nurses Lt.j.g. Scott McClure and Lt.j.g. Candice Kumpunen; Surgical Technician HM2 Terranthium Galloway; and Respiratory Therapists HM2 Carrie Hansen and HM2 Delana Refour.

Flint recounted the immediacy of his orders.

"Our seven-member rapid response team was assembled on the morning of Jan. 13," Flint said.

Naval Hospital Jax Respiratory Therapist HM2 Carrie Hansen and Nurse Anesthetist Cmdr. Carol Daniel in action working on a patient received at Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay, Cuba medevaced from the Haiti earthquake disaster area.

"The situation in Haiti was just making the world news and our names were called. I had just finished my average morning of five colonoscopic procedures, and was walking down the hallway, when I was stopped by my friend and Director of Surgical Services Capt. Alan Finley. He told me to grab a toothbrush and be ready to get on a plane to Gitmo. I thought he was kidding, but he wasn't. Within the next hour I was flying in a C-12 on my way to Cuba."

The other six members of the team were on the next flight four hours later. Their mission -- to augment existing personnel at Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay in order to receive, triage and care for victims of the massive earthquake in Haiti.

"Upon arrival, we were immediately immersed in the trauma triage and treatment of multiple critically injured patients," Flint said.

"Among the injuries were spine injuries, pelvic fractures, traumatic amputations, and fractured spleens, multiple various fractures of long bones, pulmonary contusions, and soft-tissue injuries. Compartment syndrome, a complication of crush injuries, was common in several patients and necessitated fasciotomies," the surgeon recalled.

Fasciotomy is a surgical procedure that cuts away the fascia, to relieve tension or pressure. Fascia is thin connective tissue covering, or separating, the muscles and internal organs of the body.

Flint described the pace of operations. "Initially, the medevac helicopters did not fly at night, and the hospital was able to catch up and be ready for the next day. This continued for the first few days, and then the patient numbers medically evacuated to Guantanamo Bay slowed as additional responders became functional on the mainland and on board USS Carl Vinson," he said.

"The Naval Hospital Jax team members integrated seamlessly with their counterparts at the hospital and the result was impressive," Flint said.

"No deaths occurred in the (Guantanamo) hospital, and all patients transferred to higher levels of care left the hospital in stable, but sometimes, critical condition. The success of the ongoing mission was truly possible because of all of the various levels of training that the staff has undertaken in their Navy careers, and it showed."

Flint said, "The commanding officer of Naval Hospital Guantanamo, Capt. Monte Bible, was very pleased with the way things have progressed and has given great support to the command, as well as the 'Jax Seven.' We continue to maintain vigilance for incoming patients as they are authorized to come to Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay."

Eleven Naval Hospital Jax personnel deployed to the USNS Comfort Jan.15. The personnel joined medical staff and support personnel from various naval medical facilities ramping up the hospital ship's capabilities for this massive mission. The Comfort departed Baltimore Jan. 16 and arrived off Haiti Jan. 20, bringing a 1,000-bed capability to the scene.

The Naval Hospital Jax team is led by Ophthalmologist Capt. Terence McGee and includes one independent duty corpsman, HMCS Michael Holmes, along with support personnel ranging from hospital corpsmen to supply technicians and culinary specialists.

Twenty additional personnel from Naval Hospital Jax were bound for the ship Jan. 21. Led by Anesthesiologist Capt. Gabriel Rodriguez, that group included a radiologist, several nurses, two orthopedic technicians, three operating room technicians, one psychiatric technician, one physical therapy technician, three laboratory technicians and a certified registered nurse anesthetist. Two additional people were sent to Guantanamo - an X-ray technician and a pharmacist. Naval Hospital Jax is standing by to meet other tasks as needed.

Naval Hospital Jax Command-ing Officer Capt. Bruce Gilling-ham said he is proud of the way his staff has stepped up and noted that the hospital is well-experienced in the challenges of wartime deployments, humanitarian missions and continued stellar care of our local beneficiaries.

While the hospital's operational tempo from this and ongoing deployments has brought the percentage of staff deployed in excess of 20 percent, the hospital is used to backfilling as necessary to continue care effectively.

"We are responding to the request for personnel and equipment as directed by our Regional Commander who in turn is responding to the needs as identified and tasked by the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery which is coordinating Navy medicine's response as identified by U.S. Southern Command," Gillingham said.

In a telephone conference with the various Navy Medicine East commands, Rear Adm. William Kiser, commander, Navy Medicine East, said, "The evolution in Haiti certainly transcends the people deployed there . . . those hands belong to everyone in Navy Medicine East. There is not a single soul in this region who is not contributing to this effort. They are all absolutely vital to this mission. I want to personally express to each one that I am eternally grateful."