Trapper, you ain't going?

Self Regional emergency physician joins relief efforts in Haiti



GREENWOOD--A physician from Self Regional Healthcare’s Emergency Care Center and 35 other medical professionals from across the country arrived in Haiti Sunday to provide medical care to the earthquake victims of Haiti.

Dr. Michelle Curry, who has been with Self Regional since 2002, is part of a Disaster Medical Assistance Team commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The South Carolina team with which she serves joins DMAT teams from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Florida in the deployment which began Sunday.

“There are 10 DMAT teams across the country on call each month,” Dr. Curry noted Friday as she prepared to report to Atlanta, Ga. Saturday morning for staging prior to the team’s departure at 5 a.m. Sunday. “Five other DMAT teams reported two weeks ago when the earthquake struck, so we will be going in to relieve them. Deployment usually lasts two weeks.”

“We’re taking a mini-hospital with us,” the physician added. “The DMAT team consists of nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, paramedics and other providers. “We will be functioning out of a tent.”

As she spoke, Dr. Curry faced the task of packing the one bag she would be allowed to carry for her two weeks in disaster-struck Haiti. Some of the items she planned to include were a sleeping bag, mosquito netting, uniforms, food, water and, of course, her stethoscope.

Her work in Haiti will be on a voluntary basis, but she will be considered a civil servant while there, she said.

Dr. Curry and the rest of the South Carolina team, which is comprised of health providers from across the state, were placed on standby Jan. 12, the day the earthquake ravaged the Caribbean country of 9 million. Their status was changed to “alert” on Jan. 19, and last Thursday they received word their deployment was eminent.

The team spent Saturday in Atlanta making sure their shots were updated and taking care of other business. Then, the three charter flights department from Atlanta early Sunday, arriving in Haiti later in the morning.

Dr. Curry’s arrival there was confirmed Sunday afternoon by her husband, Greg Curry, who serves at Greenwood County EMS director. Since there is no cell phone service in Haiti, he doubts he will be hear from her for the next two weeks.

The Curry’s have a nine-year-old daughter who will miss her mother.

“She’s not happy,” Dr. Curry noted. “I told her it’s only for two weeks, that it won’t be a long term deployment like when Mommy was in the Army.”

While their deployment is planned for two weeks, just how quickly she gets back to Greenwood will depend on how much success she has in hitching a flight back home in the already jammed Haiti airport. For now, the magnitude of the disaster, which has already claimed more than 150,000 lives, will keep Dr. Curry and other members of the DMAT team extremely busy.