91: 15 Years on a US Federal Disaster Response Team

91: 15 Years on a US Federal Disaster Response Team

From Germ & Worm by Drs. Paul Pottinger and Chris Sanford

March 10, 2026 · 42 min · Season 1 · Episode 91

About this episode

Dr. Paul Pottinger interviews Dr. Chris Sanford about his experiences on US federal disaster response teams over fifteen years.

Bonjour! Today, travel medicine specialist Dr. Paul Pottinger (Germ) interviews his friend Dr. Chris Sanford (Worm) about his fifteen years serving on US federal disaster response teams, touching on topics including: How did you get involved in disaster response? What was your first assignment? What are the greatest challenges you have faced in this work? What are the strangest or most surprising experiences you can share? How did you cope with the incredible stress of this work? Lessons learned and advice for people curious about volunteering? Want to learn more about ASPR's TCCT network? Check them out here . We hope you enjoy this podcast! If so, please follow us on the socials @germ.and.worm, subscribe to our RSS feed and share with your friends! We would so appreciate your rating and review to help us grow our audience. And, please visit our website: germandworm.com where you can find all our content and send us your questions and travel health anecdotes. Or, just send us an email: germandworm@gmail.com . Our Disclaimer: The Germ and Worm Podcast is designed to inform, inspire, and entertain. However, this podcast does NOT establish a doctor-patient relationship, and it…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Paul Pottinger

Guest: Dr. Chris Sanford

Topics covered

  • disaster response
  • travel medicine
  • healthcare challenges
  • volunteering
  • stress management
  • personal experiences

Keywords

  • disaster response
  • travel medicine
  • healthcare
  • volunteering
  • stress
  • experiences
  • challenges

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ASPR, University of Washington, UW Medicine

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