About 70 sailors deployed from Pensacola, Florida, to Texas yesterday to support COVID-19 response in civilian hospitals.
One Acute Care Team (ACT) and four Rapid Rural Response Teams (RRRT) arrived under the leadership of U.S. North Command in response to a request from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to a Navy press release.
Local hospital systems have been strained by the pandemic, limiting the number of beds and staff available for COVID-19 cases and patients seeking treatment for other illnesses or trauma injuries.
There are an estimated 150,543 active COVID-19 cases in Texas, up from 124,659 last week, according to the state’s health and human services department.
In response, the ACT is a 44-person team designed to support urban hospitals with enough medical staff to make up for 50 beds worth of care. The RRRTs are smaller, seven-person teams ready to rapidly support in the event of patient-surges.
They join the ranks of roughly 580 troops across branches assigned to Texas, where the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has overburdened hospitals and medical staff in recent weeks. The personnel began arriving about two weeks ago.
The latest deployment to Texas runs in conjunction with a response supporting FEMA in California, where approximately 160 Air Force personnel are assigned. They mirror the support that wrapped up in New York and New Jersey in May, as well as Washington state in April.
