AADM Announces Call for Disaster Medicine Service Award Nominations

Tampa, FL – The American Academy of Disaster Medicine (AADM®) is seeking nominations for the third annual Distinguished Service Award, honoring deserving individuals, organizations and communities positively affecting public health care in the disaster life cycle, preparation, planning, response and recovery.

Do you know an individual, organization or community making a positive difference in emergency preparedness and disaster health care response? If so, please submit a nomination for the AADM award.

Nominees must meet one, or more, of the following criteria:

1. Individuals that successfully served as leader of disaster preparedness and/or response organization with positive outcomes.

2. Organizations, governmental or non-governmental, that have demonstrated the ability to affect change in the practice of disaster preparedness and/or management response.

3. Communities that have educated, organized and assembled a cohesive team of leaders in community preparedness of disaster medicine and/or management response.

For nomination submission details, visit //https://www.aapsus.org/american-academy-disaster-medicine/aadm-award-nomination. The deadline for submissions is April 30, 2013. Recipient(s) will be announced June 25, 2013 in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the House of Delegates and Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Association of Physician Specialists, Inc.

“We can’t predict disasters, but we can be prepared for them,” said AADM President, Geoffrey Simmons, MD (Eugene, OR).  “Disaster medicine plays a key role in ensuring that communities and hospitals are adequately prepared,” he said. Dr. Simmons is board certified in disaster medicine and is a former adviser for FEMA’s NW region.

Colorado Emergency Preparedness Partnership (CEPP) and NYC Medics were honored as the recipients of the 2012 award. CEPP was recognized for its role in developing the Connect Colorado resource registry and NYC Medics was recognized as a rapid response humanitarian aid organization that deploys teams of health care and disaster professionals to alleviate human suffering and distress in the aftermath of a catastrophe.

The American Academy of Disaster Medicine is an affiliate academy of the American Association of Physician Specialists, Inc. the governing body of the American Board of Physician Specialties® which certifies allopathic and osteopathic physicians in 17 specialties including disaster medicine. AADM was founded to promote the practice of disaster health care, ensuring that all physicians are aware and prepared to effectively respond to future disasters, either natural or man-made.