Dr. Richard Schwartz, the chairman of the department

Dr. Richard Schwartz, the chairman of the department of emergency medicine at the Medical College of Georgia, addresses the Afghanistan National Health Sector Disaster Preparedness Conference. Schwartz is a former Special Forces Soldier, and spoke about the need for disaster medicine training programs. The three-day conference began today, and brings together various Afghan government ministries, NGO's and coalition health representatives to begin planning emergency responses in the event of disasters. The goal of the conference is to present an outline of the National Disaster Response Plan and promote cooperation among the various groups and ministries. The conference is sponsored by the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan.