Ohio Task Force 1 has their daily briefing to prepare to help victims of Hurricane Helene. Credit: Courtesy of Matt Lolli
Two Ohio State Wexner Medical Center emergency physicians have been deployed with Ohio Task Force 1 — Ohio’s search and rescue team — in response to Hurricane Helene.
The hurricane made landfall Sept. 26 in the Florida Gulf Coast. In the following days, it led to massive amounts of devastation in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and throughout Appalachia, according to the Associated Press.
Dr. Daniel Bachmann, a professor of emergency medicine at the center, and Dr. Nicholas Kman, an emergency medicine physician at the center, initially arrived in Orlando Sept. 24 with Ohio Task Force 1 to assist local responders in anticipation of Helene, Kman said.
Bachmann and Kman — along with 80 additional members of Ohio Task Force 1 — are currently based in Western North Carolina as of Monday morning, where they are determining whether communities are safe based on the extent of the hurricane’s damage, Bachmann said.
“There’s only so many resources for emergency medical response up here in the mountains,” Kman said, “So, when they need help, they’re going to have to request federal resources to come in.”
Ohio Task Force 1 is an urban search and rescue team with 250 members that is based in Dayton and operates under the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Kman said FEMA has 28 search and rescue teams across the country, as well as an incident support team that tells Ohio Task Force 1, and other teams, where to stage for natural disaster aid.
Dr. Nicholas Kman (left) and Dr. Daniel Bachmann (right) are members of the Ohio Task Force 1 medical team. Credit: Matt Lolli, Ohio Task Force 1
Though Ohio Task Force 1 has multiple subteams — such as hazmat, rescue, search and canine units — Bachmann and Kman’s role as physicians and medical team managers is to provide medical care to Hurricane Helene victims and their fellow team members.
“We have to keep the team healthy and in service, so they can do the research they’re doing,” said Kman, “But also, if they evacuate or rescue a person that has medical problems, we can help them all.”
Kman said since hurricanes have the potential to damage hospitals and cut off people’s access to medical aid, having emergency medicine physicians — like Bachmann and Kman — on the team is crucial.
“When I was in Fort Myers at Hurricane Ian, all of the closest hospitals were either flooded or closed,” Kman said, “So, to have a physician that has medical equipment that can take care of people on the team — without them having to call an ambulance or go to a hospital — is something that can be really helpful.”
The majority of Bachmann’s and Kman’s deployments have been in response to hurricanes because Ohio Task Force 1 is in closer proximity to these disasters as opposed to FEMA teams based in the California, Nevada and Colorado area, Kman said.
“Even though Tampa doesn’t seem that close to Columbus, or actually Dayton is where we’re headquartered, we’re actually fairly close to where the disaster was,” Kman said.
Bachmann said he joined Ohio Task Force 1 in 2012 because he was interested in what the task force provides to communities in and surrounding Ohio. He also found that he was familiar with some of the task force’s medical work.
“I have a background as a military physician, so there [were] a lot of crossovers from what I did in the military to some of the things I do with this task force,” Bachmann said.
As of Sept. 24, Ohio Task Force 1 has been deployed to Orlando, north of Tampa and Western North Carolina to keep up with Hurricane Helene’s path. Since the team is constantly on the move, Kman said he carries a personal backpack, as well as a medical backpack with drugs and supplies that he might need to take care of people.
The task force also supplies monitors, medications, splinting supplies and first aid supplies that are transported separately via semi-trucks, Kman said.
“You’re essentially living out of a backpack,” Kman said. “It’s a little bit like camping.”
According to Kman, natural disasters are always going to be a factor of life, so it is key for people to raise awareness and create plans in response to them.
“I think we always have to maintain our preparedness,” Kman said. “Both personal preparedness — so, like, making sure you have a kid at your house and making sure you have a plan if your power goes out — but also preparedness as a region, state or as a country,” Kman said.
