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NEWS | April 10, 2020

U.S. Army Reserve provides medical augmentation in response to COVID-19

By Courtesy Story U.S. Army Reserve Command

U.S. Army Reserve medical Soldiers are mobilizing in support of a federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eight Army Reserve Urban Augmentation Medical Task Forces are mobilizing to New York, Connecticut and New Jersey to assist U.S. Army North, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Health and Human Services at federal medical sites in cities across the nation.

Four UAMTFs are going to the Jacob Javits Center in New York City, New York, one is augmenting Bennett Hospital in Stamford, Connecticut, and three will go to New Jersey at locations to be determined.

Specifically created to respond in times of crisis, each UAMTF will augment the civilian medical community by delivering a wide range of critical medical capability, including medical providers, nurses, respiratory therapists and an infectious disease specialist. While UAMTFs do not perform surgeries on trauma patients, each 85-Soldier team is capable of supporting 250 low-acuity patients.

“The Army Reserve medical community is comprised of world class doctors and medical professionals who bring critical expertise from the military and from communities and institutions across America. The Urban Augmentation Medical Task Forces will expand the medical community’s ability to tend to all patients, to include COVID-19 positive patients, as we work together to combat the spread of the virus and care for those patients requiring supportive medical care.” said Col. Mary Reed, U.S. Army Reserve Command surgeon.

The UAMTFs are made up of Soldiers from the Army Reserve’s 3rd and 807th Medical Commands (Deployment Support), and Army Reserve Medical Command. Enhanced by civilian skills, training and experience, Army Reserve Soldiers are uniquely suited to support this mission.

“America's Army Reserve is on the leading edge of a massive mobilization in the homeland, supporting our fellow citizens across the nation during their time of greatest need," said Lt. Gen. Charles D. Luckey, chief of Army Reserve and commanding general, U.S. Army Reserve Command. "By leveraging our Ready Force X construct, we were able to reorganize our critical medical capabilities into an entirely new type of unit, assemble 15 of them, and have them ready to deploy to cities across the country — all in less than two weeks. We moved at the speed of heat and it's as awesome as it is amazing. We'd expected a different fight, in a different place, against a different foe, but this is the fight we're in, and we're here to win it."

All UAMTFs will follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and screening precautions to ensure the safety of civilians and service members, balancing the health and protection of service members with the responsibility to treat civilian patients at federal medical sites in cities across the nation.