Marc Pupo has been an exemplary team player and eager to contribute to the building of our ED team here at VAPAHCS. As one of his volunteer experiences, Marc is currently a Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Team member and leads a national team as the Deputy Team Leader in the NDMS capacity. His team was deployed in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and in the Houston area from August 28, 2017-September 10, 2017. Per information provided, Marc worked nothing shorter than 16-hour days to ensure the mission of the disaster relief team and continue to support all those affected by Hurricane Harvey.
During the entire time he was deployed for humanitarian and disaster relief, Marc requested his personal annual leave to be used in his absence. I want to recognize him and his work ethic, collaboration and team spirit as a part of the ED team as well as his contribution beyond measure to the disaster efforts in Texas. Rather than going on a vacation, there are occasions when individual RNs choose to spend their "free time" in helping others during such a horrendous event. His selfless act of taking on additional responsibility to care for not one or a few patients but hundreds and thousands of our fellow human beings during and after a catastrophic disaster such as Hurricane Harvey is one example of how Marc is a DAISY Nurse.