Staff report
UNM's Disaster Medical Assistance Team has been sent to the Gulf Coast region for the second time this month.
DMAT, a FEMA team sponsored by the University, has sent 34 medical personnel to Texas to aid potential victims of Hurricane Rita.
Michael Richards, a medical officer for the team and director for the University's Center for Disaster Medicine, and his colleagues were sent to Dallas on Thursday morning.
"At this point, we don't know how bad it will be," said Richards, who was also deployed with the team to areas hit by Hurricane Katrina two weeks ago. "I certainly hope Texas doesn't suffer the same devastation as Louisiana did from Katrina."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
He said his DMAT division is on call for the entire month of September and said they didn't expect to be called into duty so soon.
"It's clearly hurricane season, so we're always at risk," Richards said. "I didn't expect to be deployed to such a big storm."
He said there are six drivers who will pick up the equipment left in the Gulf Coast area from Hurricane Katrina. The equipment consists of tents, pharmaceutical supplies, electricity generators and water, he said.
"It's everything we need for 72 hours," Richards said.
He said a typical deployment lasts two weeks.
"It is tough whenever we leave the University because our colleagues have to do double shifts," Richards said. "It's hard on our families, too."
