Mississippi man on the front lines of disasters worldwide
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Carl Mangum, PHD and RN, wears many hats. As an associate professor, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and emergency preparedness and response specialist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, he spends a lot of time teaching and training. But when disaster strikes he moves into his position as team commander of Delta-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and his most recent deployments have been to the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
His first deployment was to Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia.
"We've been doing COVID since it reached the U.S.," Mangum said. "I was deployed back in March with the cruise ships; the people that were on cruise ships and those that were flown in from Japan.
"Those people were repatriated to the U.S. and were taken to military bases for quarantine. They had been there about three days when I arrived. There were hundreds. Only a handful tested positive. Most of the people were fine, but quarantined."
While the hundreds of people were in quarantine, Mangum spent two weeks dealing with the logistics of the next step.
"My job was to repatriate them back to their home states after quarantine per the CDC," Mangum said. "That was a big task to get them home safely after their quarantine."
Because of his efforts, the Clarion Ledger is recognizing Mangum as its eighth "Community Hero." The Clarion Ledger Community Heroes program is a monthly honor created to recognize unsung heroes around the metro Jackson area.
Mangum spent two weeks in Georgia and not long after, the state of Maryland reached out for help.
"Our team was one of the teams deployed at the request of the state of Maryland," Mangum said. "They requested three teams for assistance to asses their nursing homes and personal care homes.
"They realized they were being affected more by COVID than the general population. Not only were were assessing the patients, we were assessing the staff. The Maryland mission was more hands-on because the two missions were completely different."
During his month-long deployment, Mangum said the teams looked at how the facilities were operating to identify what practices were working to prevent the spread of the virus and which were not. From there, recommendations were made to help keep staff members and residents safe.
"The nursing homes didn't plan for a pandemic to hit the country and the world," Mangum said. "We've been training for pandemics for years. That put us in a unique position to train people and assess the situation."
Mangum said he's been involved with DMAT since 2003 and can be called on to go anywhere there's a need.
"What we do on that level, the federal level, we can be called on to go anywhere in the world," Mangum said. "We offer a service that no one else does.
"The military does it in times of war and crisis. We can fill a lot of roles. Many of the people are not trained to set up and do what we do."
Mangum said DMAT is mostly known for responding to hurricane assistance, but provides aid in many situations including large, national events where immediate medical assistance may be needed for attendees. Providing that aid is what drives Mangum.
"We provide a unique service and it's very rewarding to be called up, go anywhere in the world, and provide service," Mangum said. "It's rewarding to lead and be able to go in and make that difference in people's lives — to go in a disaster and make an immediate difference."
'Whatever is needed to get the job done'
Kathy Batton of Raymond, a former professor of nursing, met Mangum early in his career.
"I've known him for a long time," Batton said. "I taught Carl when he was in his first nursing degree. I taught Carl back in the '90s."
Later she worked with him and was deployed with him on DMAT missions.
"Carl is great," Batton said. "You never have to worry about having something to eat or what you need.
"He looks out for everybody. He's really just a good person to work with or deploy with. He's always ready to pitch in a do whatever is needed to get the job done."
And Batton said he's always ready to get the job done even though the deployment hours are long.
"It's never less than 12 or 14 and sometimes it's 16 to 20 hour days," Batton said. "It's very, very long days."
Anne Norwood, a professor in the School of Nursing at UMMC, has also known Mangum for many years.
"He and I work together and have worked together for the last 19 years," Norwood said. "He shoots you straight.
"You know where you stand. The students love him. He is very respected."
Norwood said he is also depended on due to his emergency training.
"He is very reliable because he takes care of us whether it's the weather, a situation on campus, or something that's taking place around UMMC," Norwood said. "He has more of an aware
ness. He's a commander in the DMAT, so he knows all the protocol."
All about community and family
Chelsey Andries, an associate professor in the UMMC School of Nursing, said Mangum's nature of taking care of others extends into his personal life.
"I've actually known him almost my whole life," Andries said. "He's known me since I was 3.
"We're from the same community. I played t-ball with his son growing up."
And as she grew up in Byram, she had the opportunity to see what Mangum is like outside his professional career.
"The first thing that comes to mind regarding Carl is selfless," Andries said. "He always puts others first.
"He helped coach when I was little. He's always been a volunteer at the fire department. He's always put others first and willing to give the shirt off his back to others."
But Andries said Mangum's family has always come first.
"He was all about community, but he was all about his family," Andries said. "He has three boys.
"He was always at games and out and about. Now he does the same for his grandkids. He's always at their karate practices, their baseball games and showing support. It's family first for him and after that comes his involvement in the community serving others."