Northern Kentucky- The St. Luke Hospitals' Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) KY-1 has deployed a medical team to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. This advanced team, called a strike team, consists of doctors, nurses and health professionals. They are currently in a holding area near the border of Mississippi and Tennessee waiting for the hurricane to pass. After the storm passes and the damage is assessed, the team will receive an assignment. The full team is on standby at their home base in Northern Kentucky.

"The team can deliver emergency and definitive medical care, working in a 'hand-off' zone to medically stabilize and treat victims for transport to an appropriate facility. This mission involves taking care of evacuated patients from uninhabitable medical facilities," explains David McClure, R.N., unit commander for the DMAT KY-1 team. "What makes this team unique is our ability to be self-sustained for shelter, electricity, food and supplies in order to do our job in a disaster area. We are one of only a few teams nationwide with this ability."

The DMAT KY-1 team was formed in 1985 as a local team, but has since been deployed to various disasters including Hurricanes Andrew, Iniki, Marilyn, Charley, Ivan, Frances and George, the New York ice storm in 1998 and the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, GA. Locally, the team has responded to the BASF explosion in Cincinnati, the Simon Kentucky High School Explosion in Independence, KY and the 1997 Ohio Valley floods.

Individual team members have also responded to the Los Alamos fires, the 2001 Presidential Inauguration, the Houston floods, and the World Trade Center disaster.

All members of the team are volunteers who can respond within 12-24 hours to an alert for activation. The DMAT KY-1 team is part of the National Disaster Medical System and functions under Emergency Support #8 of the Federal Response Plan.

Individuals interested in becoming members of the DMAT KY-1 team may call 859-962-4400 or visit www.health-alliance.com/stluke/dmat. Clinical (doctors, nurses, etc.) and non-clinical professionals are needed. Applicants will be required to complete paperwork and attend training sessions.

The St. Luke Hospitals are part of the Health Alliance, an integrated health care delivery system that also includes The Christ Hospital, The University Hospital, The Jewish Hospital, The Fort Hamilton Hospital and the physicians of Alliance Primary Care. To view other Health Alliance news releases, go to www.health-alliance.com/pressroom.