Local reserve officer aids COVID reponse

Rayville resident U.S. Army Reserve Capt. Emily Stansbury has dreamed of being in the Army since the fifth grade.

“I dreamed of being in the Army since fifth grade,” Stansbury said. “Years later when an Army recruiter came to my nurse practitioner graduating class and told us the benefits and need for nurse practitioners, I joined that day.”

An alumna of the University of Mississippi Medical Center nurse practitioner program in Jackson, Stansbury is one of more than 1,000 Army Reserve medical professionals that have answered the nation’s call for assistance with COVID-19 since March. The Soldiers are part of the Department of Defense support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s whole-of-America response to the pandemic.

 Stansbury is mobilized with Urban Augmentation Medical Task Force -7452 to support DHR Health in Edinburg, Texas, as part of the Department of Defense support to COVID-19. U.S. Northern Command, through U.S. Army North, remains committed to providing flexible Department of Defense support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in support of the whole-of America COVID-19 response.

She says it is an honor to be part of the 1,000 Army Reserve medical professionals who have bravely served during COVID-19.

Stansbury is part of an 85 person team who help broaden the capacity of care in local civilian medical facilities. She serves as a surgery nurse practitioner at Richardson Medical Center in Rayville.

Stansbury said she is thankful for the staff that filled the holes that the Soldiers left behind when they were called on to complete their mission.