Federal Foundation Assistance Monitor

HHS Readies for Ike

As Hurricane Ike reels toward the Gulf Coast, the federal Health & Human Services Dept. (HHS) sends about 1,600 agency personnel to the region to address the physical and mental health needs of those potentially impacted.

Nearly 1 million people along the Texas coast have been ordered to evacuate ahead of the storm, with forecasters warning that those who remained behind in vulnerable areas will "face certain death."

In preparation for the storm, HHS has activated the Nat'l Disaster Medical System, a federally coordinated operation to assist state and local officials.

HHS Disaster Medical Assistance Teams--along with the departments of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA)--have already helped evacuate an estimated 200 hospital patients to other inland Texas healthcare facilities.

Among the activated personnel are more than 550 Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) officers who are in place near the impact zone to help with post-storm recovery. All 6,000 PHSCC officers are on alert and ready to move into Texas if conditions worsen. Those on site will assist in staffing five Federal Medical Stations, each with 250 beds, set up in Texas; two are in College Station, just north of Houston, and three are in San Antonio, which is about 200 miles from Houston and well inland.

And the full range of physical and mental health needs is being considered, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt promises. HHS is making available "a wide spectrum of our health and medical resources," Leavitt says.

More than 400 HHS personnel remain in Texas and Louisiana to assist with recovery from Hurricane Gustav and are part of the staff preparing for the impact of Hurricane Ike. While augmenting hospital emergency room staffs and at Federal Medical Stations in Louisiana, HHS medical teams have treated more than 1,300 patients. HHS medical personnel continue to provide care for approximately 80 patients in one Louisiana state-run shelter.

Info: www.hhs.gov/news/press/2008pres/09/20080911a.html

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