Secretary Has Activated Corps...All Officers Are On Alert For Deployment
As you are aware, the impact of Hurricane Katrina has been devastating across a broad region, in terms of loss of life, health status, and property damage.
The Secretary has activated the Commissioned Corps, and directed us to support the public health and medical needs of the people of the Gulf region in the aftermath of this catastrophic event. The Commissioned Corps is responding to these rescue, acute care, and emergency response needs with valuable clinical resources. In the weeks and perhaps even months that follow, we may be tasked with responding to those significant public health needs that follow in the wake of such a catastrophe, including mental health, behavioral health, environmental health, and vector and infectious disease control. The Corps is ideally suited to address these missions.
As discussed at the Secretary's meeting this morning, to optimize the response of the Commissioned Corps and ensure that officers are available when called to these missions, the Surgeon General requests that all leave, except emergency leave, be cancelled. In addition, the Surgeon General asks that officers work with their agencies to limit their official travel to only that which is essential and critical.
Although it is possible that an individual officer will not be needed for deployment, it is critical that we maintain a full watershed of officer resources during this national emergency. We need to be able to draw on any and all of our officers should the need arise; hence, this request to cancel leave and non-critical official travel for at least the next two weeks. This is an ongoing and fluid situation, and the public health challenges in this rapidly changing situation require us to take this unusual step.
All officers must provide 24/7 contact information on the OFRD web-site. Please check and update that information at once at http://ccrf.hhs.gov/ccrf
Should conditions and anticipated requirements change, we will notify you as soon as possible. Likewise, should the need continue, we may have to extend this no leave/travel request.
All officers who have been identified to travel in response to this deployment, and approved by their agency, are expected to respond. This is not optional on the part of the officer.
This catastrophe presents severe challenges for the Nation. The Corps is expected to respond.
Thank you for your service and support.
Formal Memo (PDF, 19 KB)