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	Tampa, FL -- The <a href="http://www.aapsus.org/american-academy-disaster-medicine">American Academy of Disaster Medicine&reg; (AADM&reg;) </a>is seeking nominations for the second annual Distinguished Service Award, honoring deserving individuals, organizations and communities positively affecting public health care in the disaster life cycle &ndash; preparation, planning, response and recovery.</p>
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	Do you know an individual, organization or community making a positive difference in emergency preparedness and disaster health care response? If you do, AADM wants to hear from you. AADM is seeking nominees that meet one or more of the following criteria:</p>
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	1. Individuals that successfully served as leader of disaster preparedness and/or response organization with positive outcomes. &nbsp;</p>
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	2. Organizations, governmental or non-governmental, that have demonstrated the ability to affect change in the practice of disaster preparedness and/or management response. &nbsp;</p>
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	3. Communities that have educated, organized and assembled a cohesive team of leaders in community preparedness of disaster medicine and/or management response.</p>
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	For nomination submission details, visit <a href="http://www.aapsus.org/aadm-award-nomination">http://www.aapsus.org/aadm-award-nomination</a>. The deadline for submissions is April 30, 2012. Recipient(s) will be announced June 26, 2012 in Los Angeles at the 60th American Association of Physician Specialists House of Delegates and Annual Scientific Meeting.</p>
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	Disaster medicine plays a vital role in public health preparedness,&rdquo; said AADM President James Terbush, MD, MPH, of Colorado Springs, CO. &ldquo;Promoting disaster resilient communities is a national priority of AADM,&rdquo; he said. The American Academy of Disaster Medicine was founded to promote the practice of disaster health care, ensuring that all physicians are aware and prepared to effectively respond to future disasters either natural or man-made.</p>
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	Rear Admiral Alton L. Stocks, MD, U.S. Navy Medical Corps, was honored as the first recipient of the award in 2011. Rear Admiral Stocks played an immensely important role in coordinating U.S. Military and other medical forces in Haiti after the earthquake of January 2010.</p>
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	AADM is an affiliate academy of the American Association of Physician Specialists, Inc., the governing body of the American Board of Physician Specialties which certifies allopathic and osteopathic physicians in <a href="http://www.abpsus.org/board-certification">17 specialties</a> including disaster medicine.</p>
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