Photo By Sgt. Spencer Rhodes | Staff Sgt. Maria Crosby, a full-time Medical Readiness NCO for the 3rd Battalion,...... read more read more
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ORLANDO, Florida – Have you ever worked with someone who seems to be the glue that connects different working groups; that superstar who makes you want to work for them and always has a knack for making things happen at a moment's notice? Well, at the Orange County Convention Center Community Based Testing Site, Staff Sgt. Maria Crosby, a Florida National Guard medical readiness noncommissioned officer, is one such person.
Crosby plays an essential role in Task Force Medical, a joint command formed to answer the governor's call to the FLNG to help state agencies respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. She and a team of others are responsible for the initial setup of the CTSB in Orlando and continue to ensure all personnel involved with the medical aspect of the mission are taken care of and in sync.
"As the battalion medical readiness NCO I ensure proper procedures and protocols are implemented and used at both screening and test sites. I ensure that all samples are properly labeled, tracked, stored, and shipped. I also maintain accountability of service members who are in quarantine, or need medical treatment," said Crosby.
Always an approachable figure who carries herself with an air of can-do authority, Crosby attributes her ability to be that go-to person to the working relationship and capability of the leaders present at each stage of the CBTS.
"Thankfully, I have some amazing people to my left and right that help make this operation seem seamless," said Crosby. "Having Capt. Reid as my officer-in-charge of the screening site and Staff Sgt. Adkins, as the noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the combat medics at the test site, allowed me to be more fluid and able to respond and address any issues that would arise throughout the day," said Crosby.
Her acknowledgement and support of the teams in various stages is one of the many reasons she's continued to be seen as such a good leader and a natural asset to the mission.
Crosby's primary counterpart, the mission's Medical Safety Officer and a board-certified general and plastic reconstruction surgeon, Lt. Col. Jacob Gerzenshtein, provides guidance and suggestions for how medical processes and procedures should look like at the CBTS. The person ensuring it happens at all: Staff Sgt. Crosby.
"She is a very solid NCO, a complete personification of the NCO that runs and is the backbone of the Army. She navigates the system with ease and translates my recommendations into actionable instructions to the medical team," said Gerzenshtein.
Though he may be her primary counterpart, his reliance on her is far from isolated. As the mission involves fighting a health pandemic, it also means working with a lesser-known uniformed service branch: the United States Public Health Service.
Capt. Kimberly McIntosh-Little, the Health and Human Services site representative for the USPHS, said she's grateful for Crosby's ability to repeatedly implement changes so efficiently, as they often occur unexpectedly. When she needed her to track patients electronically, she immediately put a plan into action. After coordinating with multiple groups, both civilian and military, laptops were quickly placed at every station to compile the necessary data without halting operations.
"One morning, we had to implement a new patient requisition form, and getting it out to the line as soon as possible. Staff Sgt. Crosby made it happen, instructing medical staff on the new form all within an hour," said McIntosh-Little. "That commitment, however, isn't limited to just her mission role. I recently observed her processing the staff after their deployment here, and the care and time she takes to counsel each and every solider to make an informative decision shows how much she genuinely cares. She's as focused on her people as she is her specific role."
However, the mission at the CBTS isn't permanent for Soldiers, and the 3rd Battalion, 265th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, the same battalion that Crosby works for full time, is preparing to rotate out with an incoming unit. Most of the soldiers will be returning to their families, Crosby among them. In regards to the health of the operation after she and the original crew departs, she's not worried in the least.
"From my point of view, Soldiers are killing it," said Crosby. "They are always willing and ready to serve. They are making adjustments as needed; they are formulating new and better ways of doing things. This tells me they are still excited about what they are doing and caring to make a difference."
| Date Taken: | 04.06.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.06.2020 16:47 |
| Story ID: | 366707 |
| Location: | ORLANDO, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 296 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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