The Federal Emergency Management Agency has activated another 35-member Oregon Disaster Medical Team (ODMT).  Team members will leave Oregon Tuesday, Sept. 20 in the morning from airports near their hometowns, including Portland and Eugene.

The ODMT is an independent non-profit 501(c) 3 organization of 130 volunteer healthcare professionals from throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington. In addition to providing emergency medical response to our region, the ODMT is a Level I Disaster Medical Assistance Team, or DMAT, under the National Disaster Medical System in FEMA. This high level team is provided with a federal cache of equipment and supplies, and is prepared to respond to any disasters in the United States within eight hours.

Forty-seven ODMT members provided emergency medical assistance days after Hurricane Katrina hit and returned to Oregon by Sept. 10. Some of those volunteer medical providers will be heading back to New Orleans for this second mission.

During the first mission to New Orleans the team provided emergency medical care and assisted with the evacuation of patients out of the New Orleans airport. This time, the team anticipates providing emergency medical support to hospitals in New Orleans.

"We really want to emphasize that the team is larger than just those people who deploy. It includes people working behind the scenes, our employers, our colleagues who cover for us and our families. They all make it possible for us to serve," said Helen Miller, M.D., ODMT team leader and pediatric emergency physician from Oregon Health & Science University.

OHSU is one of the team's supporters and has four of its emergency physicians and faculty scheduled to deploy on this mission.

The ODMT member's names, city of residence and role on the team slated for this mission are:

Helen Miller - (Eugene) MD/Team Leader
Jonathan Jui -(Wilsonville) MD/Deputy Team Leader
Randall Navalinski - (Gresham) Admin Officer/EMTP
Bobbie Jo Lawrence - (Hermiston) Admin Specialist/EMTB
Jeffrey Pricher - (Cascade Locks) Safety Officer/EMTP
Peggy Peirson - (Philomath) Logistics
Robert Sokolow - (Portland) Logistics
Ralph Garono - (Corvallis) Communications
Daniel Kearl - (Philomath) Communications
Charles McCart - (Roseburg) MD
Terri Schmidt - (Portland) MD
Sandra Dunbrasky - (Ontario) MD
Rob Cloutier - (Portland) MD
Eric Stroud- (Salem) PA
Raelene Jarvis - (Vancouver) RN
Theresa Meeks - (Portland) RN
Joan Marcher - (Vancouver) RN
Rhonda Wood - (Salem) RN
Suzie McCray - (Springfield) RN
Ken Garrett - (Portland) EMTP
Peter Mackwell - (Hood River) EMTP
Donna Wilson  - (Crooked River Ranch) EMTP
Richard Chatman - (Portland) EMTP
David Cary - (Redmond) RN/EMTP
Marcia Gilson - (Philomath) EMTP
Robin Scholtz - (Coos Bay) EMTP
Kevin Opgenorth - (Salem) RN
Charles Valencia - (Port Orchard, Wa) Pharmacist
Colleen Grunow - (Brush Prairie, Wa) Pharmacist
Anita Katz - (Portland) NP/Mental Health
Jamie Baxter - (Beavercreek) RN
Patti Collins - (Sixes) RN
Debra Danna - (Clackamas) RN
Cynthia Parks - (Hermiston) Pharmacist
Mark Johnson - (Hermiston) EMTP

For more information about the ODMT, please visit www.odmt.org.