by Christopher Sanchez
Daily Lobo
Dr. Michael Richards said the only word to describe the damage he saw in New Orleans is catastrophic.
"We had a moment to talk to our patients," said Richards, a medical officer of the N.M. Medical Disaster Assistance Team. "They'd have a small bag reminding you that's all they had."
Richards, who is also an assistant professor at the UNM Department of Emergency Medicine, experienced the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina firsthand when he and 34 colleagues were sent to the disaster area to provide medical treatment to victims.
"We were glad to have the ability to help people out," he said. "But it's difficult to watch people suffer."
Richards and his colleagues were deployed to Houston as a part of New Mexico's chapter of the Disaster Medical Assistance Team, also known as DMAT, on Aug. 28, the day before the Category 4 hurricane hammered the Gulf Coast. Once the storm hit land, the team was sent to Baton Rouge, La., and was soon diverted to the Superdome.
"We received a radio call to travel to New Orleans for a medical mission at the Superdome," he said.
Dr. Mark Shah, who is the medical director for New Mexico DMAT, said Hurricane Katrina was the worst human disaster he had ever seen.
"We saw a lot of different situations with people that had died and with people who were going to die," Shah said.
He said the New Mexico DMAT consists of 150 volunteers, but only 35 of the volunteers were sent.
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"We are volunteers, but under the management of FEMA," Shah said.
The team was sent to the Superdome to set up a patient care program, Richards said.
"The working conditions were difficult in a sports arena without electricity or running water," he said. "It was by far the most difficult mission."
There were also security concerns, he said, so the Louisiana National Guard provided protection the whole time the team was there.
Shortly after the team's arrival, they were advised to evacuate the Superdome, but the members elected to stay.
"We moved upstairs to an adjacent arena connected by a land bridge," he said. "We abandoned most of our equipment downstairs."
They were still able to provide medical service to about 600 to 800 patients in 48 hours.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency sent a second team and supplies to relieve them, he said. The team was sent to Louisiana State University to set up a field hospital capable of caring for 400 patients.
"It was a large operation," Richards said.
Dr. Paul Roth, dean of the UNM School of Medicine, established the New Mexico DMAT in the early 1980s, Richards said. Roth was not available for comment.
Richards said there is a chance the team could be called back to Louisiana because the team is on call for the rest of the month.
"We've had time to rest," he said. "There's a possibility we might get sent back over there, or some place else."
