CARE Team

This last week of my hubby's leave have been hectic. Lots of things to do. The first was the FRG leader asked me to join the CARE Team. CAsualty REsponse  Team. I agreed and attended a class given by ACS. The CARE team is used to care for one of the families in your unit following an unexpected death or injury. The unit will activate a CARE team after the family is notified. The team will show up at the family's home and provide assistance if the family is willing to accept. The team consists of a Call, Homecare, Childcare, Meal, and Subsequent team. The call person screens calls and visitors. The homecare person runs errands and helps around the home. The childcare person helps with the children so the family can take care of business. The meal person coordinates meal support for the family and the team. The subsequent team meet out of town guests and assist with any other tasks. Team members should be interviewed and selected. They should be emotionally stable and willing and have the ability to respond on short notice among other things. The team usually helps for 72 hours but based on ability they can help up to 7 days.

The thing a speaker during the class harped on was the DD93. Record of Emergency Data. Whatever is put on the DD93 by the soldier is what the Army goes by. This form overrides a will. This form is the law of the land. If a soldier passes away there is a 4 hour window to notify the family from the time the casualty assistance center receives the report. This is in person. There is a 2 hour phone notification window if the soldier is wounded or seriously ill.  This means the DD93  HAS to be ACCURATE. If you are going out of town for a few days let your FRG leader know. This is so if something happens and they can't find you they will contact your FRG leader if she knows where you are at. This will save a lot of time and drama. They will go to the address and call the number on the DD93. Any unpaid wages and death gratuity will be left to the people stated on the form. In case you don't know the "Person Authorized to Direct Disposition"  is the person you give burial authority to. In the "continuation/remarks" section the soldier can state where extra property is, bank accounts and storage units are. It boogles my mind how many spouses are oblivious to finances and other things. The stories this man told were outrageous. Please know what's on your soldier's DD93 so there are no surprises.