May 27, 2011

Contact:
Jason Merrill
314-286-0302
[email protected]

ST. LOUIS - The first images many received of just how serious tornado damage was in Joplin, MO, came via a satellite feed from the Weather Channel that many St. Louis TV stations aired live.

From outside a damaged St. John’s Regional Medical Center, the Weather Channel’s Mike Bettes walked horrified looking under rubble for signs of life.

“Anyone who saw that video knew medical help was needed,” says Brian Froelke, MD, a Washington University emergency physician who also is chief medical officer of the Missouri-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT). “It also meant we knew we were going to be activated.”

Dr. Froelke was activated by DMAT, a medical response team sponsored by the federal, state and local government that stands ready to aid during any man-made or natural disasters. Washington University emergency medicine physicians at Barnes-Jewish have a memorandum of understanding with DMAT to stand ready and deploy at a moment’s notice and in this case by midnight, Dr. Froelke was driving to Joplin with two Barnes-Jewish EMS fellows and a truck full of pharmaceuticals donated by Barnes-Jewish.

For a group of physicians who have participated in treating in disasters as varied as the Good Friday tornadoes in the St. Louis region or the devastation of the earthquake in Haiti, what they saw stands out.

“I’ve been to many, many disasters and it’s the worst I’ve seen,” says Dr. Froelke. “It’s the magnitude. I’m sitting in my car and as far as I can see there’s nothing but rubble and trees sheered off.”

Many medical disaster plans call for using backup buildings such as a church to treat patients. That wasn’t possible in Joplin. “They’re all leveled and what is there doesn’t offer much protection,” says Dr. Froelke.

So, his team set up a 30-bed mobile medical unit which initially was the only unit in Joplin receiving patients.

“We saw a lot of fractures, lacerations and bruises,” he says. “The following day we started to get people pulled from rubble who were dehydrated and needed fluids, and lightning strikes were an issue as there were further storms.”

By late in the week, DMAT cleared a football-field-sized area in Joplin near St. John’s Regional and opened a mobile medical unit that will transition from DMAT care to the staff of St. John’s.

Locally Christian Hospital EMS also worked with Dr. Froelke – who is also chief medical officer of Christian Hospital EMS – in a DMAT role treating patients and they’ll be ready if needed again. “We have to be ready at a moment’s notice to be at a scene,” he says.