National Disaster Medical System
ddobbs | January 21, 2009
My brother, who started his medical career as a pulmonary tech at a naval hospital and is now the medical director for the National Disaster Medical System -- a system that draws heavily on medical personnel normally employed outside government -- sent me this account of his Inauguration Day, which he spent overseeing the NDMS care of the vast crowd on the Mall.
Allen's job that day, for which he spent months preparing, was to be ready for anything from stubbed toes and headaches to widespread medical disasters of the sort best not pondered (except by disaster relief people). The day…