Norwood Hospital Doctor Joins Puerto Rico Search And Rescue Mission

NORWOOD, MA — A doctor in the emergency room at Norwood Hospital has gone to Puerto Rico to assist the hurricane-ravaged territory.

Dr. Mike Valkanas has been deployed to San Juan with the Urban Search and Rescue Massachusetts Task Force 1 FEMA Team. He will be working with several other federal assets to assist in the search and rescue mission in Puerto Rico, according to the Mansfield Fire Department, where Valkanas also works as a medical director.

The Massachusetts team is one of six FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task forces that have been deployed to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and are working in tandem with numerous federal partners to rescue and render aid to distressed survivors in the region. Crews arrived Sunday and expect to expand their work as areas become accessible.

FEMA, working in coordination with federal partners, provided more than 1.5-million meals, 1.1-million liters of water, nearly 300 infant and toddler kits, and nearly 12,000 emergency roofing kits to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico for distribution to the public since Hurricane Maria’s landfall.

Information from FEMA was used in this story.

Image: Mansfield FD Lt. Gerry McNamara (left) and MFD Medical Director/Norwood ER MD, Dr Mike Valkanas (right). Credit: Mansfield Fire Department