This was a different mission, not the normal disaster environment.
"There were trees down, power lines down and debris in the road," said Mike Richards. "There were buildings without roofs."
Richards is the deputy commander of the 33-member team sent out to aid Floridians after Hurricane Frances hit the state.
The team arrives back from Florida today.
It was sent out Sept. 3 and treated 575 patients in two weeks.
Members were sent to the staging area on the west coast. Before moving onto the east coast, they had to wait until the storm died down.
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Richards said they saw considerable damage when traveling to Stuart, Fla.
Richards said the team helped with the overflow of emergency patients after one of the community's two hospitals was damaged.
Only one floor of the six-story hospital in Stuart was accessible due to water damage to the elevators.
The team set up in a hospital parking lot and in tents to help the hospital provide emergency medical care to patients.
Richards said with the unit's 33 members, the hospital's capability to treat acute patients doubled.
There are 152 members on the New Mexico Disaster Medical Assistance Team, but the typical deployment number is 35, said Keri Bringer, administrative officer.
The team consists of physicians, nurses, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, logistics specialists, communication specialists, a security officer and a safety officer who makes sure the team is in good condition.
UNM School of Medicine's emergency medicine department sponsors the unit, which has nurses and physicians from UNMH. The University provides a working space, funding, equipment and services to the team.
"The group develops camaraderie from working in disaster situations," Richards said.
He is also director of the emergency medicine department, and said the unit is one of the most deployed teams in the system.
It has been deployed to more than 20 disasters since 1989, including the World Trade Center in 2001, the Pentagon in 2001 and Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
The team's members are self-sufficient, meaning they carry enough equipment to sustain the unit and help patients without electricity and without water for 72 hours.
They carried 23,000 pounds with them to help with the Hurricane Frances disaster.
Richards said they are leaving as Hurricane Ivan comes in because they completed their two-week deployment.
