Scripps Medical Response Team Deploys to Camp Fire

Five members of the Scripps Medical Response Team deployed this morning to Northern California to provide medical care to victims and evacuees of the Camp Fire, at the request of the California Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA).

All of the team members are Scripps nurses, who will be providing a wide range of medical care out of an evacuation center in Chico, Calif., for approximately one week. They will be working under the auspices of EMSA and will be sworn in as state disaster service workers.

The team is led by Debra McQuillen, RN, and includes Steve Miller, RN, serving as the second lead; Anna Coons, RN; Scott Parish, RN.; and Debra Wood, RN. They will be sleeping in an evacuation center on sleeping bags and cots alongside fire evacuees and other volunteers.

Scripps President and CEO Chris Van Gorder will be joining the team early next week, and Scripps physicians and other clinicians are on stand-by to deploy to Northern California after Thanksgiving if requested by EMSA. 

In the aftermath of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Scripps Health established an office of disaster preparedness, which deploys the Scripps Medical Response Team in times of medical emergency. The team has provided care in San Diego County during wildfires, on the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and in Nepal after the 2015 earthquake.

“Beyond the humanitarian reasons for responding to disasters in other areas, the experience gained is invaluable training for emergencies closer to home,” Van Gorder said.

Learn more about Scripps Health, a nonprofit integrated health system in San Diego, Calif.