Environmental response team is the first of its kind for military in the Pacific

[unhappycamper]

Environmental response team is the first of its kind for military in the Pacific
By Teri Weaver, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Tuesday, November 20, 2007

CAMP ZAMA, Japan — When disasters strike, U.S. military response often involves medical care, food drops and recovery crews.

In Japan, Army officials now can also offer help with testing for airborne illnesses, insect-borne diseases and water contamination, according to Col. Nancy L. Vause, commander of the Pacific’s Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine at Camp Zama.

“We’ve been working for a year to stand it up,” Vause said of the Special Medical Augmentation Response Team-Preventive Medicine, or SMART-PM, at Zama. “We want people to know we are here.”

The team, which conducted its first field training last month on Okinawa, is the only one of its kind in the Pacific, according to Vause.

This team of public health experts is able to take lab equipment to a disaster aftermath, testing on the spot for sewage leaks, disease outbreak or other health concerns that can arise during disasters.

The group includes about a dozen people, including a doctor, a public nurse, an entomologist, an environmental scientist, an industrial hygienist and an environmental technician.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50378



uhc comment: I wonder if these guys have looked at Atsugi --> http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=259&topic_id=7024