After Hurricane Katrina, a South Carolina Baptist Convention disaster relief medical team was only a dream. That dream is now becoming a reality.
The medical team of the South Carolina Baptist Convention Disaster Relief group conducted a mass triage exercise in October at White Oak Conference Center. The medical team is seeking both medical and non-medical volunteers to be available to respond to future disasters.After a medical team of three people was sent to the Gulf Coast to assist in the aftermath of Katrina, talk started about beginning a regular medical unit for our state’s disaster relief ministry. Two years later, the list of volunteers has grown from three to more than 150. These volunteers are stepping up to help form a new avenue for ministry by providing medical care in future disaster settings.
God has also brought in key leadership and a state expert in disaster medicine to train and provide advice in the development of the medical unit. Dr. Ralph Shealy, co-director for the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium Disaster Preparedness and Response Training Network, has provided a total of 24 hours of training for the medical team during the last three statewide disaster relief conferences.
Some of the training has dealt not only with medical care in a natural disaster, but also with how to respond in settings caused by acts of terrorism or epidemics, such as pandemic flu. At a disaster training in October, the medical team was able to perform an exercise in triaging more than 100 victims in less than 10 minutes in a mass-casualty scenario.
Eddie Pettit, a member of the disaster relief group of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, is serving as the medical unit director and brings many years of experience in disaster relief work. Other leadership has been recruited and now is in place.
Over the next few months the medical team will be engaged in a training partnership with SC1 DMAT, which is South Carolina’s only federal disaster medical assistance team. During late February and May, there will be workshops where the leadership of SC1 DMAT will mentor the leadership of our state Baptist convention’s medical response team.
This training is to help prepare our team for a full-scale demonstration exercise in July. This project is designed to demonstrate that a non-governmental disaster medical team can be trained and equipped to operate effectively alongside a federal team. The project is sponsored by the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium Disaster Preparedness and Response Training Network with funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Recently, the South Carolina Baptist Nurses Fellowship also partnered with the South Carolina Baptist disaster response medical team to provide needed support and other volunteers from the nursing field.
Our team leadership and volunteers will be trained and ready to respond if a catastrophic event occurs. Fortunately there has not been another major disaster such as Katrina that required the response of a medical unit. This has allowed needed training and organization to occur for the team.
The medical unit is structured similar to other federal medical teams that respond to a disaster. This allows better communication in a disaster setting with other entities when everyone is talking the same language.
One aspect our team will bring that differs from other disaster response agencies is spiritual. The goal of this team is not only to provide excellent medical care but also to show the love of Christ. By taking care of physical needs, the team hopes to have the privilege to share Christ with the victims of a disaster.
Colossians 4:5 says, “Be wise in the way you act with people who are not believers, making the most of every opportunity.” God can use medicine to open doors for the gospel, just as he has used other traditional disaster-relief units such as chainsaw, rebuild, mud-out and feeding.
The medical unit will be under the command structure of South Carolina Baptist Convention disaster relief group, with Cliff Satterwhite director. The SCBC disaster relief medical team will be made available when asked to respond in times of disaster.
The list of volunteers for the medical unit includes doctors, nurses, paramedics, etc. Also, one-third of our database is made up of non-medical personnel. In the development of the medical team, we have realized that for it to be a self-contained, self-sufficient unit, it will need help from both medical and non-medical volunteers alike. While medical personnel are busy taking care of patients, non-medical personnel will make sure the field clinic is running smoothly.
There is a need for more volunteers. There will be a statewide disaster relief training session, including classes for the medical team, at North Augusta First Baptist Church, March 28-29. This training will allow volunteers to be introduced to disaster medicine concepts and the development of the medical team.
There will be another South Carolina Baptist disaster relief training conference in Myrtle Beach, Feb. 29-March 1, at Myrtle Beach Community Church. The Myrtle Beach training will include an introductory class to let new volunteers learn about the medical team.
Persons interested in joining in a medical or non-medical capacity should contact Lib Coleman at libco@aol.com for more information.
Editor’s Note: Edens is a family physician in Easley and a member of the disaster relief medical team of the South Carolina Baptist Convention.