Photo By Neil Mabini | Airmen of the 163d Attack Wing, California Air National Guard exit the Disaster Relief...... read more read more
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MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, Calif. — Airmen of the 163d Attack Wing, California Air National Guard, built a tent system on Jan. 12, 2021, in the parking lot of a hospital in Downey, California, to support front-line medical professionals who are dealing with a surge of COVID-19 cases.
At PIH Health Downey Hospital, a team of 17 Airmen assembled a Disaster Relief Bed-down System (DRBS) to provide the hospital’s emergency department with extra space and flexibility to manage the influx of COVID patients. The DRBS is a fully-functional tent system that is equipped with electrical, heating and air-conditioning capabilities.
U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Victor Murillo-Ramirez, 163d Civil Engineering Squadron, the project manager leading the DRBS build team, volunteered to be a part of this domestic support mission and immediately began coordinating the efforts once he was activated on Saturday.
“It makes me really proud to be doing this,” said Murillo-Ramirez. “Throughout my many years within the 163d, we’ve trained for this. We’re ready to be called upon at a moment’s notice, to be of service to the community and, absolutely, I love it.”
Dr. Kevin Andruss, the hospital's emergency department medical director, welcomed the addition of the tent to the campus.
“We are very lucky to have the National Guard come and give us these additional resources to help us take care of our local community,” said Andruss. “By having this tent, we will be granted the space to triage COVID patients, treat COVID patients and even have a waiting area for them before they can make it to a dedicated room if necessary.”
Andruss has been with the emergency department at the hospital for over a year and has seen his staff band together through the evolving challenges presented by the pandemic.
“It has been very impressive and an honor to work with the staff during these challenging times,” said Andruss. “I’ve seen resourcefulness that I’ve never seen during my time in the emergency department.”
This is the third DRBS build that the 163 ATKW team has done since being activated and it is slated to do five more across Los Angeles county.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Ricardo Maggins, 163d Security Forces Squadron, is a member of the DRBS build team and did not hesitate to join the efforts in Los Angeles despite living in San Diego.
“I feel like it is a big impact,” said Maggins. “We’re called out to do something, we come out here, we get things done, it goes well and that’s about it.”
The DRBS build team Murillo-Ramirez leads is comprised of engineering specialists, heating and air conditioning technicians, electricians, drivers, equipment operators and others from across the 163d ATKW who have all volunteered to help erect the tent systems.
“I’m glad to be part of the 163d, of the National Guard,” said Murillo-Ramirez. “This is just one of the things that we’re doing, not just across the world, but here locally. We can make a difference to our community and I’m proud to be part of it.”
| Date Taken: | 01.13.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 01.14.2021 17:54 |
| Story ID: | 386886 |
| Location: | DOWNEY, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 109 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Airmen build tents, increase COVID patient care during surge, by Neil Mabini, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
Disaster relief
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