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CNI Supports the US Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery

CNI is proud to support the US Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED), Emergency Preparedness Assist visits with a three-person team; Rainer Streib, Jeff Tate, and Brett Wallace, with Chris Thomas as the team lead.

This team coordinates and executes 60+ site visits per year both inside the Continental United States (CONUS) and outside the United States (OCONUS).  Each of these team members is a Subject Matter Expert in Emergency Preparedness (EP), Emergency Management (EM) and Mission Assurance (MA). The number of site visits is a heavy load for such a small team of dedicated professionals, however the visits themselves are the culmination of a great deal of pre-visit coordination with Regional and Local Medical Emergency Managers. Each of these CNI Team members is a military veteran, Navy and Marines, who engaged in EP, EM, and MA activities during their respective military careers.

The pre-visit phase includes a comprehensive review of each facility’s EP-related policy documents, to include EM, MA, Pandemic Influenza (PI) response, Continuity of Operations (COOP), mass warning and notification, shelter in place, evacuation, mass casualty response plans, and Hazard and Vulnerability Assessments (HVA). They also track any previous discrepancies or problem areas associated with previous visits and advise BUMED on ways to rectify any/all of them. Another aspect of the pre-visit review is to help BUMED assess on-hand pharmaceuticals associated with emergency response, and to make adjustments regarding their Shelf-Life Extension Program (SLEP). This results in a comprehensive Plan of Actions and Milestones (POA&M) for improving the program at each facility. The benefit to BUMED is a solid plan to maintain EP readiness, continued high-functioning EM plans, logistics and training.

The site visits themselves provide the opportunity to conduct on-site verification reviews, discuss issues with MEM, and ensure all developed plans are attainable and agreed to. Each also concludes with a debrief to the local Commander so that all information developed is shared thoroughly. Our goal is to always help BUMED in every way possible when it comes to their EP, EM, and MA programs.

Navy Medicine has medical and surgical responsibilities across the United States and at all Navy locations abroad. It is a vast organization with its headquarters in Falls Church, VA. The work performed by our CNI EPAV Team provides BUMED officials with invaluable SME insight into trends, both positive and negative, and helps them maintain a mission-ready response for the varied large-scale emergencies which may arise.

In addition, Mr. Wallace serves as an instructor and facilitator at both the Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) Basic and Advanced courses conducted at various locations throughout the year. This formal training provides certification and highly valued instruction to hundreds of military personnel throughout the enterprise.