WELDON — As a member of the North Carolina Disaster Medical Assistance Team (NC-DMAT) and local safety coordinator, Kevin Kupietz has trained and assisted with various situations.

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The NC-DMAT is made up of nurses, doctors, pharmacists and other health care professionals who provide care and relief for victims of hurricanes, floods and other disasters. It is a part of the National Disaster Medical System giving rapid-response medical care or casualty decontamination during a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other incident in the United States.

Recently, he and 21 other NC-DMAT members, along with DMAT from around the country, went on a five day trip in late February to Anchorage, Alaska, for a large scale exercise based on a scenario involving an earthquake.

“We had specialized training in pediatrics and earthquake injuries,” he said.

Kupietz, fire service/EMS coordinator at Halifax Community College and a member of Gaston Volunteer Rescue Squad, said it was really good.

“I had never been to Alaska, so when I got the opportunity, I was excited to go,” he said.

Everything for the exercise was mobile and set up like a field hospital in tents.There were enough resources to have tents for surgical, intensive care, emergency  room and a general treatment area.

Kupietz noted the medical units were self-contained and could function for two weeks on their own.

“When we are deployed, we have our own medicines and supplies,” he said.

While in Alaska, Kupietz said he and his team had a chance to talk with others who had been deployed to Haiti.

The NC-DMAT had been scheduled to go on call in March for possible deployment to Haiti, but the U.S. mission in Haiti has ended.

Kupietz brought back a lot of information that he plans to use in training classes in Northampton and Halifax counties. “I met a lot of people and made some good contacts for future classes we hope to do,” he said.

During the exercise, Kupietz said they got to use electronic medical records and found they needed more practice in that area.

“Training gives you the ability to see and learn things you couldn’t get out of a book,” he said.

For example, he said, the book doesn’t tell you even though the tents are heated, the ground will still freeze at night inside the tents when they are not being used.

This is because during the day, people are inside the tents moving around.

“I wouldn’t have known this, if I hadn’t been there,” Kupietz said.

Overall, he said, it was a great experience.

The NC-DMAT meets every other month, usually in Forsyth County.

“Everyone has to stay proficient within their own discipline.”

He noted these are volunteers who are not doing this for compensation.

“These are practitioners who are good in their fields and are willing to put up with various conditions,” he said.

The NC-DMAT is looking for specialized medical personnel. If anyone is interested, they can contact him at 252-536-7293.