81R32989 CBE-D
By: Howard of Travis H.R. No. 2249
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The caring and purposeful life of Douglas Allison
Carmichael of Austin drew to a close on May 7, 2009, at the age of
59; and
WHEREAS, Born on June 21, 1949, in Berkeley, California, Doug
Carmichael was the son of Donald and Pat Carmichael; he answered his
nation's call to duty in 1969 and was a medic for the U.S. Army 101st
Airborne Division during the Vietnam War; he went on to earn both a
bachelor's degree and a medical degree from the University of New
Mexico, and along the way, he returned to the military as a member
of the Army Reserve; he received advanced training in chemical and
biological casualty care and later served as an instructor in
advanced trauma and cardiac life support for the U.S. Army Command
and General Staff College-Medical Corps; and
WHEREAS, After completing his residency in general surgery
and emergency medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in
Milwaukee in 1987, Dr. Carmichael served for a year as a staff
emergency medicine physician at Brownwood Regional Hospital in
Texas; he subsequently served as commander of the 375th Medical
Detachment in Saudi Arabia and as a staff emergency physician at
Darnall Army Hospital; moreover, he actively participated in
several campaigns, including Operation Desert Storm, before
retiring from the Army Reserve with the rank of lieutenant colonel;
and
WHEREAS, In 2000, following service on the emergency medical
staff of Round Rock Hospital, Dr. Carmichael retired from the
full-time practice of emergency medicine, however he remained in
the field as a registered medical sonographer; he provided
ultrasound instruction to emergency physicians, and he later went
back to treating patients part-time at Austin area urgent care
centers; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Carmichael gave back to his profession as a
member of numerous organizations; during medical school, he was
elected as a student member of the American Medical Association,
and in 1983, he was a student delegate to the AMA House of
Delegates; as his career progressed, he joined the Texas Medical
Association, which he served as chair of the TMA Committee on Trauma
and EMS, and the Texas College of Emergency Physicians, which he
served as a member of the membership and legislative committees; he
was honored with a Council Teamwork Award, and he was selected as a
fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Carmichael was an avid distance runner and
bicyclist who took great pleasure in the outdoors; although he was
diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1995, he continued to pursue
physical activity and especially enjoyed taking part in two major
MS fund-raisers, the BP MS 150 bike ride from Austin to Houston and
the MS 150 Bike to the Beach from San Antonio to Corpus Christi; he
and some friends founded the Champions Against MS team for
participants who were struggling with the disease themselves, and
members were recognizable in their orange, black, and white jerseys
that read "I have MS That is Why I Ride"; and
WHEREAS, Throughout his life, Doug Carmichael distinguished
himself as a talented physician, a patriotic American, and a
devoted friend and loved one, and memories of him will forever be
cherished by all those who held him dear; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Douglas Allison
Carmichael and extend deepest sympathy to the members of his
family: to his wife, Loise King Waller; to his children, U.S. Marine
Corporal Hunter Allison Carmichael, Danielle Suzanne Carmichael,
Alexis Faist Largent and her husband, William, and Caroline Waller
Faist; to his mother, Pat Carmichael; to his sisters, Beth Thompson
and her husband, Thomas, Judy Colman and her husband, David; to his
niece, Becky Thompson; to his grandchildren, Avery Simone Largent,
Rhys William Largent, and Griffin John Largent; and to his other
relatives and many friends; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Dr. Douglas
Allison Carmichael.