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Health Services Officer Responder of the Year Award |
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LCDR Elizabeth Agnes Hastings was awarded the 2007 Health Services
Officer of the Year Award for Outstanding Health Services Officer and Emergency
Responder. The award was presented at the 2008 USPHS Scientific and Training Symposium
in Tucson, AZ, in June. LCDR Hastings’ consistent and ongoing dedication, resolve,
commitment, and compassion to the public health needs of the United States made her an exceptional candidate for the Health Services Officer Responder of the Year
Award.
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LCDR Hastings is a highly valued and respected officer of the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (Corps). Currently assigned to the Indian Health
Service (IHS), she consistently provides high quality technical and clinical services
to Tribal populations in times of distress and suffering. As a Health Services Officer,
LCDR Hastings has developed mitigation strategies which have resulted in significantly
improved response for both Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and in the Corps’ mental
health categories. This has resulted in increased awareness of the mental health
needs and treatment for American Indian/Alaska Native communities. Additionally,
she continues to actively enhance her skills in emergency management through the
Office of Force Readiness and Deployment and Federal Emergency Management Agency
sponsored education, and vital experience in the Public Health Incident Command
System.
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Since 2005 LCDR Hastings led separate IHS responses to suicide tragedies at the
Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota and the Confederated Tribes of Colville
Reservation in Washington. As the Incident Management Team Leader and Operations
Section Leader, she was herself deployed and managed other deployed IHS and Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS) personnel to respond to large suicide clusters
that paralyzed Indian Country. As a social worker, she provided immediate clinical
response and developed recovery strategies to meet acute mental health needs in
these remote tribal communities.
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As a result of these deployments, LCDR Hastings developed the IHS Emergency Response
to Suicide Model which prescribes a two-pronged approach to suicide clusters. The
immediate first step is the emergency response phase to mitigate the emergency and
stabilize the community and individuals affected. The second prong of this response
model provides a long-term recovery phase based on community outreach, planning
and prevention. LCDR Hastings authored the first “Mental Health Pre-deployment Briefing
Notebook” that will enable her fellow Corps officers and civilians to engage Indian
Communities with sensitivity and increase their effectiveness through rotating deployments.
This process of a ‘formal briefing’ and pre-deployment suicide training is a departure
from previous operational practices within IHS and the HHS. She supervised all response
activities during these incidents. The deployments in both communities have successfully
mitigated further suicides to date.
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Much of her time since September 2005 has been dedicated to the HHS mission to strengthen
and enhance the capabilities of the Corps during disasters and emergencies. While
temporarily assigned to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and
Response (OASPR) to develop the White House Report: Katrina Lessons Learned response,
LCDR Hastings committed herself to promoting new ideas and strategic initiatives
to resolve and address many of the complex questions surrounding deficiencies and
operational issues that arose during the Federal response to Hurricane Katrina.
LCDR Hastings had significant responsibility to coordinate and lead a department-wide
workgroup dealing with the difficult topic of command and control. She was able
to assist by facilitating the group in a manner that led to delivering an outstanding
methodology which substantially changed the Department’s mode of operation in disaster
and public health emergencies. She developed policy options and documents reflecting
these changes and briefed Cabinet officials including the Secretary and Deputy Secretary
daily on these policies. She received high praise from the Secretary for her performance
as a result of these briefings. At the OASPR, LCDR Hastings demonstrated her broad
knowledge and leadership in emergency management and response and government policy.
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LCDR Hastings led the IHS Medical and Emergency Response as the Operation Section
Lead at the Northern American Indigenous Games in Denver, CO, which were attended
by 75,000 athletes and observers. During this deployment the IHS team treated 404
medical emergencies and coordinated 41 medical emergency transports to local hospitals.
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LCDR Hastings was a member of the PHS-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team that responded
to the acute public health needs in New York City after the attacks of September
11, 2001. As an Emergency Medical Technician, she deployed to assist the District
of Columbia Health Department for the anthrax attacks in October 2001. LCDR Hastings
is an exceptional Corps officer and through her ongoing actions demonstrates the
Corps’ dedication to the well-being of our Nation. She also has shown the strength
of women in the Corps, with multiple television and print media appearances since
September 11, 2001. Over all, LCDR Hastings has deployed 11 times in her career.
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LCDR Hastings continuously promotes and provides professional education and development
for her peers and colleagues.
In 2007 she authored and delivered 12 presentations
to audiences around the United States on the topic of EMS for Children and Suicide
Response. This recent effort brings her to a total of 59 presentations in the past
5 years.
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LCDR Hastings is an exemplary Corps officer and provides an example for her Corps
and non-Corps colleagues. She elevates the standards of her peers by presenting
herself as member of a highly respected organization that she is proud to serve
as a consummate professional. As new challenges present themselves during the ongoing
development and transformation of the Corps, she is quick to volunteer her services
to participate on working groups, committees, and to make public presentations to
large and small audiences with various interests and concerns. She currently serves
as the Ancillary Services Branch Director for the PHS #2 Rapid Deployment Team,
supervising nine positions filled by Dental, Lab and Mental Health officers while
simultaneously serving as the RDF #2 Mental Health Supervisor.
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LCDR Hastings has received the 2007 Health Services Officer Responder of the Year
Award for her extraordinary leadership, judgment and commitment to, and impact on,
the Nation’s emergency preparedness and response efforts.
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