Prepared for the worst, a Utah medical team is glad Hurricane Harvey didn’t send them scores of injured Texans

Houston • It could have been worse. The unprecedented flooding in Hurricane Harvey’s wake destroyed about 100,000 homes and killed dozens, but it didn’t create the immense medical need that led federal officials to call in an elite team of three dozen Utahns who were prepared to bridge the gap between life and death.

Utah’s DMAT-1, one of dozens of federal Disaster Medical Assistance Teams nationwide, was prepared for the worst, which as of Saturday evening hadn’t come.

These Utahns had left their day jobs Tuesday and mobilized in a deployment for which many had been training for years. They created a base of eight medical tents where Texans could have been taken in the fallout from the storm.

“Fortunately, because of the resources that Texas had, this didn’t have to be” used to triage and treat patients, said Kim McFarlane, a physician assistant from Green River who joined DMAT-1 about four years ago. “It means Texas did a good job of taking care of their own.”

On the outskirts of Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, McFarlane and other medical professionals from Utah and Ohio awaited orders while others in the group grabbed dinner. It was the tail end of a day shift providing what collectively is round-the-clock backup for the thousands of first responders helping Texas claw back from record rainfall and catastrophic flooding.

This was the first deployment in the crew’s 10-year existence. It acts as a resource for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during disasters and some large events.

The team of physicians, nurses, paramedics, pharmacists and others trains quarterly, conducting drills ahead of events such as Hurricane Harvey.

Terry Begay, who works for the Salt Lake County Health Department, had been deployed to an event near Washington, D.C, before. But Harvey offered a live test for hundreds of people from DMAT teams nationwide who hurried to Texas.

“It’s surreal,” Begay said. “We’ve done so much training.”

At the site near the airport, while awaiting further instruction, members said they wouldn’t be disappointed if they didn’t treat a single person in the storm-ravaged area. Still, to pass the time, they made sure their tents were fully stocked and ready to go.

“We may perfect this today and tomorrow they tell us to tear it all down,” said Laina Roundy, a paramedic from Bountiful who works for Gold Cross Ambulance in Salt Lake City.

Late Saturday, officials told the group to take down its tents and be ready to move or go home.

“We will await new orders,” Roundy said.