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Veterinary Category Announces Award Recipients CAPT Walter Randolph Daley, USPHS and CAPT Charlotte Spires, USPHS |
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2009 PHS Veterinarian of the Year Award CAPT Walter Randolph Daley, USPHS |
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The Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (Corps) officer, 2009 Veterinarian
of the Year Award has been given to CAPT Walter Randolph Daley.
CAPT Daley is currently serving as the Chief of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Field Assignments Branch, Career Development Division, Office of Workforce and Career Development, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
During CAPT Daley’s 15 years of Corps service, he has supported the mission of the Corps and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through extraordinary leadership on deployments and missions. Shortly after his call to active duty, he joined the Public Health Service (PHS)-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team, where he served as a member during 1995–2002 and deployed to provide preventive medical services to the Army National Guard (1996, 1998) and to respond following Hurricane Fran in North Carolina (1996). He became an active member of the Commissioned Corps Readiness Force (CCRF) at its inception in 1995 and was the first veterinarian awarded the PHS Field Medical Readiness Badge. He also participated in a 2002 Avian Influenza Outbreak Response in Virginia, the first major veterinary deployment through the Office of Force Readiness and Deployment. In 2006, CAPT Daley was selected as Deputy Team Leader of the newly created Applied Public Health Team 1 (APHT-1). In this role, he commanded a field team of 20 Corps officers in an assessment of nursing home evacuation and shelter capacity in coastal Louisiana, the first deployment ever of an APHT. His report was so useful to HHS in preparation for the 2006 hurricane season that he was requested to analyze data and report from a similar assessment of hospitals conducted 2 months later. CAPT Daley has made several accomplishments in public health investigation and research resulting from CDC emergency response activities. He was a CDC EIS officer during 1997–1999 and a member of the CDC Disaster Epidemiology and Assessment Team during 1999–2002. In Maine, after the severe ice storm of January 1998, CAPT Daley conducted a post-disaster community needs assessment, post-disaster health surveillance, and a study of post-disaster carbon monoxide poisoning that has guided the public health response in this area over subsequent years. His activities in Puerto Rico in September 1998 after Hurricane George included evaluating the emergency shelter surveillance system, mortality surveillance, and developing an alert about carbon monoxide poisoning for clinics over the island. He conducted an investigation of risk factors for injury after the catastrophic F5 tornados in central Oklahoma in May 1999, for which his study results have been used to reassess and change tornado safety guidelines. He supported the International Red Cross response to the August 1999 earthquake in Turkey by conducting a needs assessment of the displaced population and an assessment of the emotional impact to displaced children. He deployed to Mozambique with the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance in March 2000 to perform a health assessment of the affected population in central Mozambique after the severe flooding that year, and he worked at different sites in Malaysia in September 2001 to establish baseline health and chemical exposure status in children living near areas prone to periodic forest fires. In October 2001, CAPT Daley led the CDC Community Health and Needs Assessment Team responding to the World Trade Center terrorist attacks. Because of his experience in disaster epidemiology, CAPT Daley was specially requested to lead community needs assessments in North Carolina after Hurricane Isabel in 2004 and in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Results from all these activities have guided immediate response to impacted populations or helped develop preparedness strategies to prevent future illness, injury, and death. CAPT Daley’s scientific accomplishments also extend beyond disaster epidemiology. During 1995–1997 as an epidemiology fellow with the Food and Drug Administration, he conducted multiple epidemiologic studies involving medical devices, including pacemakers, aortic valves, infrared ear thermometers, and hem dialysis filters. During 1997–2002, in addition to the investigations already described, CAPT Daley completed studies of chemical exposures to children on a Sioux reservation; pediatric lead exposure in Russia, Bangladesh, and Mexico; severe reactions to gamma-butyrolactone in a dietary supplement; carbon monoxide poisonings in North Dakota and Georgia; and nationwide exposure to genetically modified corn not approved for human consumption. In 2002, CAPT Daley joined the newly created CDC Environmental Health Tracking Branch. His activities as a scientific advisor and project officer supported academic and health department projects to develop a nationwide network to track environmental hazards, exposures, and health effects. CAPT Daley’s publication and presentation record clearly demonstrates the quality of his research activities. He has received both the J. D. Lane Junior Investigator Award and the Clinical Society Open Category Award for publications from the Commissioned Officers Association CAPT Daley has also shown extraordinary leadership through his work with the Veterinary Professional Advisory Committee (VetPAC) from 1999-2003. CAPT Daley helped to develop the VetPAC’s first Web page, and served as chairman of the CCRF subcommittee in 2003, where he spearheaded efforts to bring the category to compliance on readiness standards. In 2005, CAPT Daley assumed a leadership role in the EIS Field Assignments Branch at CDC, where he trains and mentors EIS officers during their 2-year fellowship program. In this capacity, he is responsible for approximately 50 newly commissioned veterinarians, physicians, and scientists entering the Corps each year. CAPT Daley directed the 2005 and 2006 EIS Summer Course Field Exercise, which trained new officers in post-disaster assessment techniques. CAPT Daley strongly encourages junior officers and interested parties to consider a career in the Corps. He currently serves as a Veterinary category mentor and has served with the Emory University Mentor Program; in addition, he regularly lectures at local universities. The VetPAC is pleased to announce this award to CAPT Daley in honor of his years of service, extraordinary leadership, and commitment to strengthening the Veterinary category of the Corps. The award was presented to CAPT Daley at the Veterinary Category Day session at the USPHS Scientific and Training Symposium on 2 June 2009. |
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2008 Commissioned Corps Veterinary Responder of the Year Award CAPT Charlotte Spires, USPHS |
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| The 2008 Veterinary Responder of the Year Award has been given to CAPT
Charlotte Spires of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Commissioner/Crisis Management. CAPT Spires was nominated for her outstanding work in emergency response and preparedness for the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (Corps), where her leadership and innovation has had a significant positive impact on improving the public health of our Nation.
CAPT Spires was the first Supervisory Veterinarian for Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) 1, where she developed a Concept of Operations for the Veterinary RDF team, served as Project Lead for an RDF Standard Operating Procedures Development Work Group, and is a member of both the Veterinary Equipment Cache Work Group and the Veterinary Professional Advisory Committee (VetPAC) Readiness Subcommittee. CAPT Spires has also made significant contributions to improving public health during deployments. In 2007, she was deployed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for the Hurricane Katrin-Rita response. In that deployment she was the Command Center Logistics Coordinator where she performed assessments, developed a report of facilities in Alexandria and Monroe, Louisiana, for animal shelter suitability determination, served as Data Collection Manager for animal intake, export, total census, and reunions for both the Lamar Dixon and Parker Coliseum Shelters, and performed clinical triage of approximately 600 contaminated animals rescued from New Orleans. During that deployment, CAPT Spires learned first-hand of the perils of overlooking pets in preparedness planning. As a result of her experiences during Katrina-Rita, CAPT Spires developed and implemented an innovative Field Medical Station (FMS) pet care and visitation program for those animals presented to the FMS. The goal of the model was to provide a safe and healthy environment to manage pets presented to the FMS and to allow them and their caregivers to continue to sustain their human animal bond. CAPT Spires had the opportunity to utilize her newly developed program for the first time during her deployment in 2008 for Hurricane Ike at the FMS at College Station, TX. To help reduce the stress experienced by the pets and their owners during the separation and relocation process at the FMS, CAPT Spires took the responsibility of becoming the point-of-contact between the pets and their owners. Additionally, she coordinated and oversaw the care of the pets at the animal relocation facilities. Furthermore, CAPT Spires visited the pet shelter on a daily basis, took pictures of the patients to share with the owners, and initiated a pet visitation program. These activities proved to be successful in improving the moral of the pets and their owners as well as other patients and staff at the FMS. CAPT Spires was presented the award at the 2009 USPHS Scientific and Training Symposium during the Veterinary Category Day session on 2 June 2009. |
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