'A dangerous time:' Wisconsin Air National Guard team assists medical examiners amid COVID-19

MADISON -- Members of the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing Fatality Search and Recovery Team (FSRT) mobilized in April to assist the state’s medical examiners with mortuary operations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a news release Thursday, May 7 the team’s primary task is to assist medical examiners and coroners with "the dignified removal and handling of decedents from their residence or on-scene, transportation, cleaning and decontamination."

“Every time you watch the death toll tragically rise from this disease that only tells a portion of our story," said Master Sgt. Steven Ulrich, who took time off from his civilian position as a human resources specialist at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs to coordinate with state departments and outline the capabilities of the National Guard and its FSRT to best assist the mortuary needs of the state. “A local coroner’s normal workload doesn’t stop just because there is a pandemic ravaging their community. There are still deaths of natural causes, and, sadly, many deaths of despair, which tax our country’s decedent management capacity.”

Tech. Sgt. Samuel Keizer, a full-time member at the 115th who also serves on FSRT as an additional duty, explained that many counties, especially in the northern part of the state, have little to no morgue space and could be overwhelmed by even a slight increase in deaths.

“The biggest piece of the FSRT mission is to provide closure to families and loved ones after each event and to provide additional storage to counties where we are able to preserve the decedents,” said Tech. Sgt. Samuel Keizer, who explained that many counties, especially in the northern part of the state, have little to no morgue space and could be overwhelmed by even a slight increase in deaths. "Once the pandemic is over, we can get them back to their families. This mission provides a huge amount of humanity at an otherwise dangerous time.”

The release Thursday said the FSRT team has provided more than 576 hours of assistance to the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office by providing the dignified removal of 47 decedents.

“We are trained in the proper removal and handling of remains,” said Tech. Sgt. Angela Krepline. “Our team is vital in this response because we have the tools, knowledge and skills to assist Dane County when they are in need of an extra hand. "The difficult part is the unknown. When my team arrives to a scene, they do not know what they are going into until they get there. Depending upon the scene and the needs of the decedent, it will dictate the proper procedures for the handling and removal of the remains and the correct PPE precautions.”

The airmen assigned to the team "are accustomed to a demanding training schedule," the release said. The members spend approximately 300 hours training each year, to include multi-day exercises in the field to ensure preparedness in the wake of a stateside disaster.