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According to this Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidance for Administrative Furloughs "Individuals appointed by the President, with or without Senate confirmation, who are not covered by the leave system in 5 U.S.C. chapter 63, or an equivalent formal leave system, are not subject to furlough. An exemption from the chapter 63 leave system may be based on 5 U.S.C. 6301(2)(x) or (xi). (See also OPM regulations at 5 CFR 630.211.) These leave-exempt Presidential appointees are not subject to furloughs because they are considered to be entitled to the pay of their offices solely by virtue of their status as an officer, rather than by virtue of the hours they work."

PHS commissioned officers are on duty 24 hours each day, every day of the year. The PHS Commissioned Corps system does not provide compensatory time off. Accordingly, officers are not eligible for overtime or compensatory time when they work longer than 8 hours a day or more than 40 hours a week. - Information on Absence and Leave; A Guide for Public Health Service Commissioned Officers, Supervisors, Program Managers, Leave-Granting Authorities, and Leave Maintenance Clerks. Feb. 1989.

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. This Act only pertains to private and Federal civil service employees. Members of the Uniformed Services are not covered in the definition of an eligible "employee" under Title I of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, and by Chapter 63 of Title 5, United States Code (U.S.C.), as amended by Title II of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. Therefore, PHS commissioned officers are not eligible for or covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. - Information on Absence and Leave; A Guide for Public Health Service Commissioned Officers, Supervisors, Program Managers, Leave-Granting Authorities, and Leave Maintenance Clerks. Feb. 1989.

Nominated in 1981 and Surgeon General through 1989, this iconic Surgeon General for President's Reagan and Bush made historic decisions that brought the AIDS epidemic to the forefront of public health. Likening tobacco addiction to drug addiction, he was instrumental in changing attitudes toward smoking. His conservative beliefs on homosexuality and abortion were well known. Speaking out in 2007 with Surgeon General's Satcher and Carmona, he described the difficulty of the post, with the pressures borne from public health decisions unpopular with some political agendas. A New York City native of Brooklyn, Dr. Koop knew his career choice would be medicine by the age of thirteen. Known as "Chick" during college, for "chicken Koop", his nickname stuck. A pediatric surgeon, he pioneered certain surgical techniques. Dr. Koop passed away at his home on Monday, February 25, 2013 in Hanover, N.H. R.I.P C. Everett Koop, 1916 - 2013.

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Dr. Richard Carmona
Surgeon General Koop: The Legacy of a Health Warrior

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Today, DHHS released news that its National Health Service Corps expands the primary care workforce. This is a laudable achievement; welcome news for citizens who need primary care in specifically identified areas of the country. However, the untold story is the way in which DHHS is not starting up a program that would have far greater reach in terms of comprehensive public health practice; the United States Public Health Sciences Track authorized by the Affordable Care Act.

The untold story behind the news release is that DHHS is allowing an annual authorization of at least 850 clinicians in seven professional categories to remain unfilled; which means former active duty medical professionals from other services cannot use the Affordable Care Act to continue uniformed service in the USPHS. It means that uniformed service, a key benefit that assists in the recruitment of public health professionals into a career of directed public service over a period of 20 to 30 years, is an untapped resource. It means Congress's intent to fill shortages of public health providers from 150 medical students (10 with studentships to the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences), 100 dental students, 250 nursing students, 100 public health students, 100 behavioral and mental health professional students, 100 physician assistant or nurse practitioner students, and 50 pharmacy students annually remains unfilled.

While shortages in primary care exist, why does DHHS insist that only the National Health Service Corps will fulfill the nation's needs? Why would a national program authorized by law to build human resources here in the U.S. to help fill a growing need for public health service professionals, including clinicians, be ignored? Why would a nation winding down two wars, having spent billions, possibly trillions of dollars to preserve the health and welfare of its citizens against terrorists threats allow this program to never materialize?

While we continue to see this opportunity to create a responsive corps of uniformed health professionals languish on paper, we also see natural and man-made disasters. If these disasters were equivalent to a terrorist attack, we would see an outpouring of resources. We would see domestic defense systems put in place. We would see no untapped resource. But a Public Health Sciences Track that serves our own in times of need and disaster? We see it untouched, untapped, but not forgotten.

CBS is looking to take the medical drama to new heights — that being no less than the office of the Surgeon General of the United States. The Eye network on Monday ordered the drama pilot The Surgeon General, to be penned and exec-produced by Lie to Me creator Samuel Baum and revolve around “America’s doctor.

-As reported on TV Line

DCCPR responsed to a request from the state of Connecticut by deploying a team of 28 USPHS mental health providers from Mental Health Team (MHT) #4 (with augmentation from MHT#3, MHT#5 and Services Access Team (SAT) #3) to provide services and consultation for a total of 8 missions in and around Newtown, CT.

Before Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) exist as they do today, the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service formed the first prototype DMAT's for the rest of the nation; one located in Rockville, MD and the other at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. These first DMAT's, formed in the mid 1980's, were largely stabilization (triage) units, staffed with emergency room physicians and nurses, paramedics, and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT's). But in contrast to the civilian DMAT teams of today, the PHS-1 DMAT and PHS-2 DMAT were structured to provide primary medical care, emergency community outreach, and preventive medicine. Therefore, they were also staffed with sub-units, containing mental health, laboratory, preventive medicine and dental expertise. These PHS DMAT's also included a fixed command structure with logistics and administration functions. These pioneering PHS DMATs, mostly staffed by USPHS Commissioned Corps officers, were a proof of concept for DHHS; that temporary volunteer teams could provide disaster response within a few hours in various places CONUS and OCONUS (outside the Continental United States). The two pioneering DMAT teams merged in 1993, forming PHS-1 DMAT, and eventually all other civilian DMAT teams that formed around the country. At that point, the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) as we know it today, was part of the U.S. Public Health Service.


PHS-1 DMAT deployed and supported multiple missions, gaining experience and honing response technique. Among the many responses were Hurricanes Hugo (1989), Andrew/Iniki (1992), Fran (1996), and Georges (1998); Midwest Floods (1993), Northridge Earthquake (1994), Southeast Floods (1994), Oklahoma City Bombing (1995), Olympics (1996), G-8 Summit (1997), North Dakota Floods (1997), New York Ice Storm (1998), NATO Meeting (1999), Army support to the 85th Medical Battalion from 1985-1991, support to Army National Guard Units from 1985 - 1999 (MD, DC, PA, VA, MA, FL), Honduras (1993) and Guatemala (1999), Navy support to USNS Comfort (1991) and to the National Naval Medical Center (1998).

In 2003, the NDMS was transferred to the newly created Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This transfer created a situation that limited the ability of the PHS-1 DMAT to deploy because the PHS-1 DMAT was mostly comprised of officers of the Commissioned Corps who were not under DHS's direct administrative control. Despite this setback, the PHS-1 DMAT hung together through sheer force of will; its team members conducted monthly meetings and training exercises. This situation persisted until 2006 when the Tier-level Commissioned Corps response teams were formed. In order to form the first Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) teams, the Office of Force Readiness and Deployment (OFRD) essentially asked the PHS-1 DMAT to divide into two as-yet unnamed RDF teams in order to form an experienced core of leadership within those Washington, D.C. area RDF's.

The first two RDF's evolved as larger versions of the civilian DMAT's, containing the same preventive medicine and mental health capabilities as the original PHS-1 and PHS-2 DMAT's. At that point, Applied Public Health Teams (APHT's) and Mental Health Teams (MHT's) had not been formed. It seemed only natural to retain the "PHS-" prefix to honor the RDF teams' origins. Thus today, RDF-1 and RDF-2 hold true to this history by referring to themselves as PHS-1 RDF and PHS-2 RDF. The basis for doing so is also founded in the battalion-style unified command structure that influences present day response teams as numerically ordered sub-units. For example, Battalion 1 includes PHS-1 RDF, PHS-1 APHT, PHS-1 MHT, etc., and Battalion 2 includes PHS-2 RDF, PHS-2 APHT, PHS-2 MHT, and so on, through all five Battalions; -1, -2, -3, -4 and -5. Although most visible are the PHS-1 RDF and PHS-2 RDF, this naming convention does not set these teams apart as anything different or special; all teams may use the PHS-# naming convention. A few references to the OFRD's present day unit names are historically preserved in documents referenced here: Contacts Readiness and Response Program Engineer's Deployment Guide OFRD Deployment Roster OFRD Deployment Role and Response Team Selection/Application

Corps response teams are unique. No civilian teams address the universal need in any public health disaster to put well-rounded expertise on the ground within hours of a disaster. In fact, every disaster response should be considered multidimensional, where root cause analysis applies public health principles through a public health team to achieve the very best approaches to wellness, preventive medicine, mental health, triage, ambulatory care, clinical and long-term care.

-PHSChat recognizes CAPT Calvin Edwards, PHS-2 RDF, for his willingness to provide assistance with this article.

As reported by VADM Regina Benjamin, MD, US Surgeon General, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of the Interior are working together with the government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation (CHC) to improve medical care for the residents of the Commonwealth. The team, led by RADM Newton Kendig (Federal Bureau of Prisons - BOP), is providing technical assistance to the hospital and direct patient care. Additional team members include CAPT Lisa Hogan, nurse manager (BOP); CDR Daniel Hesselgesser, clinical laboratory manager (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - CMS); CDR Sylvie Cohen, physician/safety officer (BOP); CDR Kathleen Dotson, pharmacy manager (BOP);and LT Lane Vause, medical technologist (CMS).

Two news stories profile the team and its mission: HHS team visits Saipan Hospital and Feds send in medical staff to CHC for 90 days. In the coming weeks, HHS and the USPHS Commissioned Corps will send four additional officers based on the initial assessment of the team and the needs of the facility to provide critical technical assistance to the hospital and high quality care to CNMI residents.