USPHS Community Health and Service Missions - The Lakota Sioux Experience

In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, it became apparent that a more coordinated federal response was required in order to provide the general public with essential public health services following a disaster. In 2006, the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS), Office of Force Readiness and Deployment (OFRD) created several response teams. These teams were formed to assist and augment local and/or state emergency responders in preventing or reducing human illness, injury, or death from disasters. A major challenge for these teams is to provide field-based training opportunities so that team members can execute their missions with maximum efficiencies in the event of deployment. Community Health and Service Missions (CHASM) were developed to meet this challenge. The benefits of a CHASM are many and include:

1. Provides an opportunity for teams to come together from across the nation to exercise public health assessment and intervention planning abilities
2. Increases operational readiness by improving disaster response preparation and
3. Fosters a cross-cultural experience by creating partnerships.

This presentation will share the Lakota Sioux experience - a CHASM held on the Rosebud Indian Reservation July 1 - 10, 2012. A partnership between the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS), the Lakota Sioux Tribe, and a non-government organization (Remote Area Medical). The experience will be shared through the view of a USPHS Team Commander and will include many photos from this field mission.