Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team Archives

MVC: 12 more COVID deaths at veterans home in northern Missouri’s Cameron

November 3, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

12 more veterans have died from COVID at the state veterans home in northwest Missouri’s Cameron.

Missouri Capitol

The Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC) says 12 more veterans have died at the Cameron home in the past ten days, bringing the total number of COVID deaths there to 22, since September 1.

MVC spokesman Jamie Melchert tells Missourinet that a total of 87 veterans living in state veterans homes have died from COVID since September 1. Cape Girardeau has the highest number of deaths, with 29. Cameron is second with 22. There have been 19 deaths at the St. James facility, nine at Mount Vernon, seven in Warrensburg and one in Mexico.

Melchert says all of MVC’s veterans homes are following best practices for fighting COVID, as prescribed by the CDC and the state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). He says that includes daily testing, using PCR and antigen testing. It also includes proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning and disinfecting and enhanced training in those areas.

Melchert says infection control inspections and additional infection control training procedures are in place at all facilities.

He also says Armstrong Teasdale’s external review is continuing, noting they’re conducting interviews at all seven homes and at the commission’s Jefferson City headquarters.

MVC says it’s also utilizing staffing from the Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team, which is deployed to provide Missourians the medical care they need immediately.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill, has emphasized to Missourinet that it’s important to get to the bottom of this. He has said that if changes need to be made, they should be made as quickly as possible.

Missouri’s specialized medical team continues helping communities during pandemic

October 26, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

When a disaster strikes in Missouri, the state’s Disaster Medical Assistance Team springs into action when seconds count. The specialized team, known as MO DMAT-1, has been around for many years to serve the public when any community is ripped apart by a natural disaster. According to Planning Section Chief Larry Woods, Missouri is one of the only states in the nation with a statewide team providing such aid during the community’s most dire time.

Missouri’s specialized medical team continues helping communities during pandemic

Team members include advanced clinicians (nurse practitioners/physician assistants), medical officers, registered nurses, certified nurse aides, pharmacists, logistical specialists and administrative specialists.

Since the spring, MO DMAT-1 has been working to help the state get a handle on a different type of disaster – COVID-19. Caty Luebbert with the State Emergency Management Agency says Missouri has hired about 200 team members since the early days of the pandemic. The team currently includes more than 350 members.

Luebbert says the team has completed more than 170 COVID-19 related missions so far.

“Most of that has been assisting with testing efforts or supporting staffing for local communities, whether that be at hospitals, healthcare providers or other long-term care facilities,” she says. “Some of the other stuff that they’ve been involved in has been like medical screenings. So, they’ve been at some of the state facilities providing temperature checks. They’ve also done some delivery of essential personal protective equipment.”

Members are also delivering remdesivir, an experimental COVID-19 drug said to reduce recovery time for seriously ill coronavirus patients in a hospital. Some workers are helping in five of Missouri’s Veterans Homes. The long-term care centers have had at least 71 veterans die from COVID-19 since September 1.

Luebbert says local communities request help from the state and then Missouri can move in to respond to certain needs.

“They’ve been critical to supporting our local communities during the pandemic and to adjust and adapt for missions, especially on a moment’s notice, has really helped these local facilities be able to provide care to their patients,” says Luebbert. “Many of the facilities that they have provided support for staffing or testing have truly expressed their appreciation over the course of COVID-19. That’s why it’s so important for us to continue recruiting team members because we plan to continue providing these critical services for the foreseeable future.”

The state continues to hire for DMAT positions. Click here for more information.

Hawley disturbed by COVID-19 deaths at Missouri veterans homes; MO DMAT-1 team now deployed (AUDIO/VIDEO)

October 26, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri senator who serves on the Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill is closely tracking the increasing number of COVID-19 deaths at state veterans homes.

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley (2020 file photo courtesy of Senator Hawley’s office)

The Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC) says four more veterans died last week, bringing the total number of deaths at the homes to 71, since September 1. U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R) tells Missourinet that to lose anyone to COVID is a tragedy, and to lose 71 veterans in veterans homes is disturbing.

“It’s very, very concerning and I’m glad that the governor has taken this action to order a review, an investigation, and I look forward to the results of that,” Hawley says.

The MVC says three of the new deaths happened at the home in northwest Missouri’s Cameron, where 34 veterans currently have COVID. MVC says ten Cameron staff members are in isolation in their homes, and another 20 staff members there have recovered.

MVC confirms it’s now utilizing medical staffing from the Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team (MO DMAT-1), which is deployed to provide Missourians the medical care they need immediately.

As for Senator Hawley, he emphasizes it’s important to get to the bottom of this.

“I look forward to action being taken to make sure that the standards of care are at the highest possible level. We owe that to our veterans,” says Hawley.

He also says that if changes need to be made, they should be made as quickly as possible.

MVC says there are now 12 veterans with active cases at the veterans homes in southern Missouri’s Mount Vernon and St. James. At Mount Vernon, six staff members are in isolation in their homes, and 21 staff members have recovered. At the St. James facility, four staff members are in isolation at home, and 18 staff members have recovered.

The veterans home in southeast Missouri’s Cape Girardeau has had the largest number of deaths since September 1, with 29. MVC says 44 Cape Girardeau staff members have recovered.

MVC spokesman Jamie Melchert says the MVC’s veterans homes are following best practices for battling COVID, including using daily testing using PCR and antigen testing. He says MVC is also focusing on enhanced personal protective equipment (PPE) training, as well as cleaning and disinfecting. Central office leadership from Jefferson City is also providing some additional supervision.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson tells Missourinet that he acted immediately when he learned about the spike in deaths at veterans homes, ordering an external review. The governor has said that the box-in strategy is being used, which involves testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine.

Mr. Melchert notes MVC commissioners selected St. Louis-based Armstrong Teasdale as the outside firm undertaking the external review of the Veterans Commission. He says Armstrong Teasdale is conducting staff interviews at the homes, and that no findings have been made available, at this time.

State of Missouri recruiting medical personnel across state for special COVID-19 assistance team

April 4, 2020 By Ashley Byrd

from press release

The State of Missouri recruiting for its specialized health care team that responds to critical health emergencies, asking health care students, retired doctors, and nurses to supplement the state’s current health care workforce.

The Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team (MO DMAT-1) works throughout the state and deploys to provide patients with on-site medical care. The state team is fully equipped to respond on-site with mobile medical facilities when required. They can also be assigned to assist in traditional health care settings, performing their jobs there just as they would at their primary job.

Health care professionals are urged to apply online at https://missourionestart.com/moshcf/.

Individuals are needed with backgrounds in the fields of:

Medicine
Nursing
Allied Health
Dentistry
Biomedicine
Laboratory Science
Logistics
Communications

“Medical professionals and first responders across the state are working tirelessly to meet the rising needs and challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis,” Governor Mike Parson said in a press release. “We are calling on all available medical professionals to support the effort to fight the virus by joining a critical reserve unit now focusing on providing care in high need areas across the state. Their efforts can help save the lives of their fellow Missourians.”

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency, and the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s Missouri One Start Division are helping in the recruitment effort.

During the COVID-19 response, MO DMAT-1 has deployed medical personnel to augment staffing at Golden Valley Hospital in Clinton and Western Missouri Medical Center in Warrensburg.

Learn more: https://sema.dps.mo.gov/operations/modmat-momort.htm.