Courtesy Photo | Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers of the Cordele-based Company C, 2nd Battalion...... read more read more
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Nearly 250 Soldiers and Airmen of the Georgia National Guard are employed in teams across the state disinfecting establishments with high-risk population such as nursing homes and long-term care facilities. The first infection control team mobilized the afternoon of March 31. Since then, ICTs have completed 15 missions and are conducting operations currently at 59 priority nursing homes, but will surge to treat all 363 like care facilities in the state.
“These teams also provide educational services to train nursing home staffs on techniques for working in an infectious environment as well as how to properly wear and use (personal protective equipment),” said Brigadier General Randall Simmons, commander of the Georgia Army National Guard. “I am very proud of the work our service members are doing.”
The first ICTs were composed of Soldiers of the Marietta-based 201st Regional Support Group. These teams mobilized to Albany, Ga. where they trained additional service members composed of Soldiers from the Forsyth-based 2nd Battalion 121st Infantry Regiment, who returned from Afghanistan in 2019. More than sixty Soldiers of the Calhoun-based 1st Squadron 108th Cavalry were trained April 1 and mobilized to disinfect facilities in northwest Georgia.
The Georgia Department of Public Health notes that long-term care residents are vulnerable to illnesses that can be caused or exacerbated by Covid-19. Among the precautions advised by the Ga. DPH is frequent cleaning using disinfectants registered by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Recognizing the risk, and anticipating the need, the Georgia Department of Defense organized infection control teams from existing units. Like the 18 medical support teams deployed to hospitals across the state, these units did not exist two weeks ago. Major General Tom Carden, Georgia’s Adjutant General, notes that these teams are the result of mission analysis, planning and agile adaptation to ensure that “the Georgia National Guard is never late to need.”
As of 9:00 a.m. April 3, more than 1,200 Georgia National Guard Soldiers, Airmen and State Defense Force volunteers are supporting missions across the state, from Valdosta in the south to Dalton in the north.
The Georgia National Guard expects to continue to support the coordinated statewide response with ICTs and MSTs as well as providing support to food banks and other tasks assigned by the Georgia Emergency Management Agency until the mission is complete.
| Date Taken: | 04.04.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.03.2020 15:41 |
| Story ID: | 366562 |
| Location: | ATLANTA, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | ALBANY, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | CALHOUN, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | CARTERSVILLE, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | FORSYTH, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | MACON, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | MARIETTA, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 99 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Georgia National Guard Infection Control Teams Battle Coronavirus Statewide, by MAJ William Carraway, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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