NASHVILLE, Tenn. ó Vanderbilt University Medical Center has several
health care experts available for stories related to the devastating
tsunami in Asia. Please review the following list and call us for
availability of any one of these expert sources:
William Schaffner, M.D., chair of
Preventive Medicine, member of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, national
expert on infectious diseases.
Dr. Schaffner is available to speak on the public health crisis facing
the areas hit by this tsunami and the types of disease outbreak that
could occur, including cholera and other communicable diseases.
Seth Wright, M.D., associate professor of Emergency Medicine, Director of the Middle Tennessee Medical Reserve Corps
Dr. Wright has been touched personally by this disaster. His father
currently lives in Phuket, Thailand. Dr. Wright’s major academic
interests are in infectious diseases and pain control, and he is
currently working on a specialty in tropical medicine. He is currently
serving as Medical Director of the Middle Tennessee Medical Reserve
Corps, a volunteer agency in Tennessee designed to respond to local
disaster situations. Dr. Wright can speak about the topography of the
area hit by the disaster, health concerns, and the long-term planning
needed for this type of disaster.
Carol Etherington, M.S.N., assistant
professor of Nursing; president of the USA Board of Doctors Without
Borders, international volunteer expert
Etherington has traveled to Bosnia, Angola, Sierra Leone, Kosovo,
Tajikistan, Honduras, and Poland as a member of Medicins Sans
Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders. She is
currently the President of the Board of Directors for MSF USA. She has
also traveled to the Thai-Cambodia border with the International
Medical Corps, and the International Red Cross and specifically worked
to fight the spread of cholera in that region. Etherington has also
worked on several missions within U.S. borders, including the aftermath
of Sept. 11, 2001 in New York City, the 1994 earthquake in Los Angeles,
Hurricane Andrew in Florida in 1992, and other natural disasters and
emergency situations here in Nashville.
Peter Wright, M.D., director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Patient
Care Emphasis: Viral and Bacterial Infections, New Vaccines, Pediatric
HIV Infection, International Medicine, and Immunodeficiency Status
Dr. Wright has been to Haiti a number of times over the years, during
and following both natural and man-made disasters. Haiti has seen the
same type of devastation currently being seen in the six countries hit
by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Dr. Wright can speak about
the progression of disease after disasters of this sort, especially
among children in the area. He can also talk about the impact on the
surrounding communities and about the type of aid that will be crucial
to avoid more waves of death from the diseases that follow in these
types of catastrophes.
Colleen Conway-Welch. Ph.D., Dean of the Vanderbilt School of Nursing
Conway-Welch is the founding Director of the International Nursing
Coalition for Mass Casualty Education (INCMCE), an organization hosted
by the Vanderbilt School of Nursing. The Coalition developed a
five-year strategic plan for the Department of Health and Human
Services to deliver a national curriculum to health care providers for
mass
casualty education. Dean Conway-Welch also coordinated with Vanderbilt
University Medical Center to form the National Center for Emergency
Preparedness (NCEP). The NCEP was established to train medical and
health care providers and emergency responders in planning for and
responding to mass casualty incidents (MCI) and incidents involving
weapons of mass destruction (WMD). She can speak about the
enormity of disaster response on this kind of scale.
Stephen Guillot, Director of the National Center for Emergency Preparedness
Guillot serves as Director of
the National Center for Emergency Preparedness, housed at Vanderbilt.
Guillot has extensive expertise in disaster preparedness and could
speak about future plans to improve safety and current joint-relief
efforts internationally.
Media contact: Jerry Jones, (615) 322-4747
jerry.jones@vanderbilt.edu