JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
U.S. Army North, as U.S Northern Command’s Joint Force Land Component Command, or JFLCC, continues the rapid integration of medical capabilities in several locations around the country, while remaining flexible to rapidly respond to emerging needs as part of the Department of Defense’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Across the United States, approximately 9,000 service members in the JFLCC are working through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist state and local government COVID-19 response efforts.
The JFLCC currently has medical professionals and teams in seven states including Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Texas, and is setting the conditions for employing them in Pennsylvania.
The JFLCC is working with Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to assess other locations requiring Department of Defense resources to help in the whole-of-nation response to COVID-19.
“We continue to respond aggressively in support of NORTHCOM’s coordinated campaign plan to provide the medical capacity to help reduce the burden on local governments, agencies, and hospitals fighting COVID-19,” said Lt. Gen. Laura Richardson, JFLCC and Army North commanding general. “We have rapidly employed scalable and tailorable medical capabilities – everything from medical staff for alternate care facilities to integrated medical teams from various services and components – to assist in multiple states.”
The JFLCC has fully integrated more than 530 Army, Navy and Air Force medical providers into 10 New York City public hospitals to augment staff there.
Approximately 800 military medical professionals from the Army and Navy are providing care at the Javits Center and have treated 915 patients to date. More than 50 JFLCC Soldiers continue to provide 24-hour mortuary affairs support at three New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner sites.
The JFLCC has employed or allocated 14 Urban Augmentation Medical Task Forces, each consisting of 85 medical personnel.
• Six UAMTFs are employed in New York City.
• One UAMTF is employed in Boston, with another planned to deploy there soon.
• One UAMTF is employed in Edison, New Jersey; another is employed in Newark, and a third will deploy soon to Atlantic City.
• One UAMTF is employed in Stamford, Connecticut.
• One UAMTF is employed in Detroit, Michigan.
• One UAMTF has been allocated to Pennsylvania.
A Navy Expeditionary Medical Facility in Louisiana continues to staff the personal housing unit site in New Orleans that is designed to house patients who are unable to return to their residence for self-quarantine.
In addition, the EMF has begun integrating Navy medical personnel from Dallas and New Orleans at Baton Rouge General-Mid City to augment staff there.
Providing medical support in communities across America takes a team of federal forces including operational planners, logisticians, human resources and information specialists, Defense Coordinating Officers/Elements, and nearly 300 Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officers who work around the clock to integrate and synchronize a multitude of planning efforts to facilitate support to emerging areas and any shift in operations.
Military History Detachments are deploying to document this unprecedented response effort. Behavioral health specialists and military chaplains are also providing support to our service members to ensure they can continue their crucial work in the COVID-19 response.
The JFLCC is working day and night with National Guard Dual Status Commanders and federal, state and local officials to refine its planning efforts and operations in support of civil authorities to rapidly meet our nation’s need and save lives.
Coined the “Strength of the Nation,” Army North plans, exercises, and trains year-round with federal, state, and local partners. We stand ready to provide life-saving and life-sustaining capabilities in support of federal, state, local, tribal and territorial partners to help the American people in their time of need.