Katrina
Assistance: Jobs - Positions Wanted
Dear
ASCRS and ASOA Members:
ASCRS
and ASOA members have contacted our
organizations with requests to offer
assistance to their peers and Gulf Coast
refugees. ASCRS has investigated what
can be done and provides the following
information.
This
notice includes information on:
The
latest information from Mississippi
officials is that volunteer relief efforts
are being hampered by transportation
problems. Extreme fuel shortages make
it difficult to arrange transportation.
All available fuel is currently being
diverted to run generators at hospitals
and temporary medical facilities and
to fuel search and rescue efforts. The
fuel supply is expected to improve by
Saturday, September 3. A spokesperson
for the Mississippi State Medical Association
said that a temporary license waiver
would be issued for volunteer physicians.
Louisiana
Department of Health and Hospitals Needs
Volunteers: Physicians, particularly
emergency room doctors, are needed immediately
for the Temporary Medical Operations
Staging Areas (TMOSA) set up in Baton
Rouge at the LSU Pete Maravich Assembly
Center and at Nichols State University
in Thibodaux. These TMOSAs have been
set up to provide medical care for evacuees
from the Greater New Orleans area.
Additionally,
special needs shelters are being set
up in Alexandria, Lake Charles, Lafayette,
and Thibodaux to care for patients who
do not require acute hospital care but
who require oxygen treatment, tube feeding,
or mental health care. Physicians who
volunteer for these shelters will provide
triage and medical care services as
needed. To volunteer call: Dr. Jean
Takenaka, Office of Public Health -
Emergency Operations Center, at 225-763-5751
or jtakenak@dhh.la.gov.
To
Volunteer to Assist in Louisiana: Licensure
and Liability Issues: The Louisiana
Governor's office will issue a statement
later today (Friday, September 2) regarding
various provisions of Louisiana law
and of the Southern Regional Homeland
Security and Emergency Preparedness
Management Assistance Compact (EMAC),
that pertain to licensure and liability
of physicians who volunteer to go to
Louisiana to provide assistance in the
medical relief effort in the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina.
Important
Notice from FEMA (www.fema.gov):
Volunteers should not report directly
to the affected areas unless directed
by a voluntary agency. Self-dispatched
volunteers can put themselves and others
in harms way and hamper rescue efforts.
Louisiana
health authorities have received an
overwhelming response from physicians
in neighboring states and around the
nation offering to help the victims
and evacuees of Hurricane Katrina. For
that reason, the hotline given out to
physicians is overloaded, and during
some times of the day it is completely
down. Listed below are a few alternative
numbers that physicians can call if
they would like to offer assistance.
Carl Maddox Field House 225.219.0821
/ Pete Maravich Assembly Center 225.578.0377
/ OLOL Medical Staff Office 225.765.8871.
The
Florida Medical Association
has set up a web site for medical volunteers
to help in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi,
and Florida, go to http://www.fmaonline.org/posthurricane.asp.
To register as a volunteer, go to http://disasterhelp.net/medical/
Assistance
for Displaced Ophthalmologists, Technicians,
and Staff Seeking Employment: ASCRS
and ASOA members can use the Eye-Mails
lists to post job openings and positions
sought. If you have not signed up to
use the Eye-Mail lists, you can do so
on the ASCRS and ASOA home pages (www.ascrs.org
and www.asoa.org). Once there, sign
up for any of the existing lists that
are of interest and post your openings
or positions sought. Posts will be monitored,
and relevant information will be placed
in a central database on the Web sites.
Donations
of Medications: Relief agencies
have informed us that donations of drugs
from pharmaceutical manufacturers are
being channeled through the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers Association,
which is airlifting the supplies to
distribution locations.
To
Donate Money: Go to the Red
Cross Home Page: http://www.redcross.org/
Or Call 1 800 435 7669 (1 800 HELP NOW).
Information
for ASCRS Members in the Katrina-Affected
Areas
In response to the US Postal service
announcement regarding mail delivery
to hurricane-affected areas, the following
is our plan of action:
