Team Rubicon - Haiti Disaster Proves Value of Small Rapid-Response Medical Teams

'Team Rubicon is an incredible success story that began with two phone calls and a Facebook post.'

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - Emergency preparedness specialists will be studying this development for a long time to come. What began as a conversation on Facebook became a small rapid-response emergency medical team - Team Rubicon - on the ground in Haiti.

Jake Wood, president of Team Rubicon, reported on his blog that the UN and Red Cross have reached full speed in logistical support, food and water are being delivered and hospitals are able to handle the medical mission.

"Team Rubicon operations have ceased inside the nation of Haiti," Woods writes. "The leadership within Rubicon has come to the conclusion that Team Rubicon has completed its mission of bridging the gap between the earthquake and large aid agency response. As of 1900 hours local, TR2 began travelling back to the US, with a small contingent of volunteers remaining behind to continue working at CDTI Hospital (under no affiliation with Team Rubicon)."

The work of Team Rubicon was of special interest to Catholic Online due to the relationship that developed between the team and Jesuits in Haiti in providing support. The Jesuit communities became the bases of operations for much of their work.

Now back in the continental U.S., Wood and the other members of the Team see a future for the model of disaster support that emerged out of this endeavor. Look at the track record they established:

By their own description, they began as a hodgepodge group of eight (mostly strangers) volunteers united via Facebook and on airplanes en route to Dominican Republic.

The eight consist of a former Marine Sniper, Marine Intel Sergeant, two Milwaukee firefighters, a former Army Special Forces medic, two doctors and a brother in the Jesuit Order. They came from six different states and the Dominican Republic.

They quickly raised over $200,000 in cash and donations, mostly through social networking then traveled to Port au Prince, Haiti to provide medical support.

The success of a small, agile, "cellular" team was quickly seen as they did not have to deal with some of the bureaucracy and red tape of larger aid organizations. They simply went into the country, coordinated with local communities and groups, then went to work.

"Team Rubicon is an incredible success story that began with two phone calls and a Facebook post," Woods stated. "It has grown into a model for disaster relief that must be paid attention to. All but two of the original eight members had never met in person before, yet the team was able to cross into Haiti and save thousands of lives because they ACTED."

Woods sees Team Rubicon as a paradigm shift in disaster response, using a cell group approach that is able to rely on past experience, quickly assess ground truth, thus streamlining the process of providing crucial medical support in the most impacted areas.

As the leader of Team Rubicon noted, "This is an organization that relies on the vast experience of combat veterans and seasoned first responders to analyze the situation on the ground, assess the risks involved, mitigate risks when possible, and accept a level of inherent risk which is in line with the benefit derived from action.

"(This model) fully integrates into the local network by employing local citizens to act as drivers, guides and interpreters... Using a local network such as this begins the involvement of Local Nationals in the rebuilding process. It puts cash in the pockets of families in need, and allows them to be a part of the solution."

They are in the process of compiling a full report for evaluation by the emergency preparedness community as well as some op-ed pieces for national news outlets.

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Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online. He is a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church who laid aside that ministry to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

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