Tampa, FL — Rear Admiral Alton L. Stocks, MD, U.S. Navy Medical Corps, has been honored as the first recipient of the American Academy of Disaster Medicine’s (AADM) Distinguished Service Award. The award was recently presented at the Annual House of Delegates and Scientific Meeting of the American Association of Physician Specialists, Inc. in McLean, Virginia.  Stocks is Commander, Navy Medicine East and Commander of the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia.

“Rear Admiral Stocks played an immensely important role in coordinating U.S. Military and other medical forces in Haiti after the earthquake of January 2010,” said James W. Terbush, MD, MPH, the incoming President of the American Academy of Disaster Medicine. “His work positively affected the public health care of Haiti.”

Stocks led the implementation of a medical support system that included 1100 hospital beds, 18 operating rooms and complete medical ancillary support. He further facilitated the redevelopment of the Haiti medical infrastructure, which was significantly damaged, and coordinated this effort with USAID and the Government of Haiti. Stocks also managed and coordinated the Department of Defense medical evacuation system which completed 15,000 patient transfers.

“It is a privilege for AADM to present the Distinguished Service Award recognizing the vital role this new physician specialty plays in the disaster life cycle – preparation, planning, response and recovery,” Terbush said.

The American Academy of Disaster Medicine promotes the practice of disaster health care, ensuring that all physicians are aware and prepared to effectively respond to future disaster either natural or man-made.  AADM is an affiliate academy of the American Association of Physician Specialists, Inc. (AAPS), the governing body of the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) that certifies both allopathic (MD) and osteopathic (DO) physicians in seventeen specialties including disaster medicine.