About Santa Barbara Street Medicine
DWW-SBSM was founded in 2005 by three family physicians: Mark Stinson MD, Sabina Diehr MD and Noemi “Mimi” Doohan MD PhD. The creation of DWW was inspired by the need for local humanitarian medical volunteerism in response to disasters both acute, such as 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina, and chronic, such as poverty and homelessness. The work of Jim Withers MD, and his organization Operation Safety Net in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania provided the DWW model for street medicine and medical volunteerism for the homeless. The vast disaster experience of Dr Mark Stinson, both nationally and internationally, provided the DWW model for medical volunteerism during times of disaster. Using these models of volunteer homeless and disaster medicine, the DWW programs were designed and implemented.
