RAM has shown its strength once again (in this writer's opinion) with the response to Hurricane Katrina by moving in quickly, providing the care we see need for in a timely manner, with a minimum of bureaucracy. With air support, the professionals who have volunteered with RAM have provided medical services to many thousands of people in need, this time in the setting of an emergency rather than reacting only to community poverty.

It is now 17 days after landfall, and the cavalry has arrived. Thousands of volunteers and paid employees have now descended on the disaster area to provide care. Inertia has been great, but we're now getting into the phase where our teams of doctors and nurses are being replaced by others. Yesterday evening we had very few assignments for our doctors and nurses, and we had two docs and two nurses elect to return home by car. I cannot blame them, as they had not been utilized enough to justify staying away from their home commitments. What that told me, though, was that it was time to seriously examine our present and future roles here in southern Louisiana.

Tomorrow, Rene will be in Mississippi, and will report back to us by satellite phone what he finds. If he finds a great need there for our services, we will do what we can to bring relief. Colonel Stoops arrived this evening, and will be helping take some of the pressure off of me in the decision-making process.

Also tomorrow, we will have a one-day walk-in clinic in Livingston to treat the community, and will have another clinic on Friday and Saturday in the southern part of the parish. This will serve two goals: provide care for those in need, and keep our team productive while we are here. Hopefully, these services will be taken advantage of by the folks of the parish.

On a lighter note, we sat around the piano tonight for over an hour and relaxed. We played and sang many songs, and had a great time socializing. Times like that are special, created amid crazy circumstances, never to be experienced in the same way again. I really appreciate our team, and all of the work they've been putting in. The church remains very helpful, and their kindness has renewed me repeatedly over the past two weeks.

Our plans for completion of this mission will be firmed up tomorrow. It is clear that we're winding down, the question is only how quickly we should do this (barring another event of some sort).