Editor's note:
Jeff Lehman sent us a note from his home office, mentioning his recent disaster relief work. We wanted to share this as an example of the way our District employees are serving the community. -
A.K.
Grossmont College chemistry instructor Jeff Lehman was set to spend spring break with his wife on a cruise ship bound for Mexico. Then COVID-19 struck.
Lehman instead spent three weeks in March doing disaster relief work, removing and relocating passengers off the Grand Princess cruise ship that was stranded off the California coast after several aboard were sickened by the deadly virus.
A member of the government’s National Disaster Medical System, Lehman was deployed to relocate 800 of the 2,400 passengers from the Port of Oakland, where the massive ship debarked to Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento for a two-week quarantine. Additional units of the system’s Disaster Medical Assistance Team handled relocations to other military bases, including Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego.
“This was one of the more complex incidents that I have worked because there were county, state, federal and international officials and agencies involved,” said Lehman, who has spent 14 years with the disaster response system. The system operates under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is called into action during major disasters to help fill in gaps, supplementing health and medical systems and response capabilities. Lehman’s past deployments include hurricanes Sandy, Harvey and Dorian and Typoon Mangkhut in Guam.
Mission in a hot zone
After the four days it took to screen and bus passengers to Travis, Lehman spent the rest of the mission at the military base. Clad in personal protective equipment when entering the cordoned off “hot zones,” he handled tasks ranging from meal and mail deliveries to taking passengers’ temperatures.
Lehman said the mostly senior citizen passengers were appreciative and understanding, and especially grateful for the welcome they received in Oakland.
Asked what motivated him to deploy for the mission, Lehman spoke about his personal beliefs.
"My faith provides a model for service," said Lehman, who also trains and volunteers for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Cave and Technical Rescue Team. "Service comes in a variety of manifestations. I am thankful for those who serve in ways that I am not well equipped. I happen to have an aptitude for operating in, and managing resources during disasters, so this is what I do."
