Dr. Kay Fellows This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. 09/24/2001

   www.palatkadailynews.com/pages - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/24/2001   Last Visited: 9/28/2001

   Dr. Kay Fellows , a pathologist employed by Putnam Coummunity Medical Center , is among doctors across the county who are going to New York to assist medical teams there to identify victims of the World Trade Center disaster. A graduate of Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine , Fellows was to leave this weekend as a member of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team to assist in identifying those killed. This is a federal-level response team designed to provide mortuary assistance in case of mass fatality and cemetery-related incidents. DMORT is a federal agency that responds only when requested. Fellows , a two-year member of DMORT , worked in Tarboro , N.C. after Hurricane Floyd. In that disaster , five cemeteries had been flooded. Fellows helped in victim identification. DMORT began in the early 1990s and has grown to include more than 1 , 200 trained volunteer members who can respond to work at disaster scenes involving mass fatalities. Interest in such a group came from families who petitioned the government for help after airline tragedies. Families felt in some cases the treatment they received was inadequate and demanded a response. Congress passed The Family Assistance Act in October of 1996 asking all American-based airlines , and later those operating in the U.S. , to have a plan for families in case of an accident. This is a team effort , said Fellows. I will be going to New York and staying there for two weeks to assist the forensic pathologists there.. Fellows said she was called to come the day after the terrorist attack. They still need a lot of help , Fellows said. She will be working in the area of DNA sampling , identification of body parts and description of injuries. Fellows is part of DMORT's Region IV that covers Florida , Georgia , North Carolina and South Carolina under Dale Downey , commander.
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   I am looking forward to going and glad I have something to do to help , Fellows said. Fellows added that she had recently participated in a training exercise for just such an event. The teams , she added , are extremely organized , working 12 hours on and 12 hours off.