BANGOR – Out on the tarmac at Bangor International Airport on Tuesday, Richard Bowie was busy organizing a mission to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina. As director of the Bangor-based Down East Emergency Medicine Institute, or DEEMI, Bowie was clearly in his element – bustling around the supply trailers, taking inventory of water, food, clothing, medical needs, safety gear and camping equipment for 15 frustrated volunteers who are champing at the bit to get down to the Gulf Coast and help.

Bowie’s team was preparing to aid in the recovery of victims’ bodies – a difficult task in the region’s sweltering climate and the toxic aftermath of the hurricane. In addition to stocking up on protective gear for his volunteers, Bowie also was overseeing the dismantling of a bulky green helicopter that he intends to have trucked south and the mechanical fine-tuning of a sleek new orange-and-white search plane that will fly down with two or three team members.

Despite the hustle and energy of Tuesday’s preparations, though, Bowie and his restless volunteers were essentially waiting.

“FEMA’s not communicating with MEMA, and MEMA’s not communicating with the people in the field,” Bowie said, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and its Maine counterpart. “We’re pretty much all ready to go. We thought we’d be leaving yesterday, then this morning or this afternoon, but we haven’t heard anything yet. We’re just waiting for the green light from MEMA.”

If the state agency waits too long, Bowie observed glumly, some of his most enthusiastic, committed and experienced volunteers – several of whom have arranged time off to work in the disaster area – will have to go back to their jobs and won’t be available.

DEEMI’s cadre of physicians, emergency medical technicians, paramedics and firefighters is one of several in Maine waiting for the go-ahead from the Augusta-based Maine Emergency Management Agency. According to MEMA spokeswoman Lynette Miller, offers of assistance have come from many Maine search and rescue and medical groups, as well as law enforcement officials, communications specialists, emergency feeding groups and incident management teams.

While state-level emergency management agencies nationwide receive several requests from the disaster area each day, Miller said the requests are very specific and most likely to be answered by states closer to the disaster site.

“States like Maine that are far away and not directly involved in the disaster are more likely to be part of the longer-term recovery period,” she said. MEMA is encouraging groups to register with the emergency office, she said, and to wait for the official nod before loading up supplies and hitting the road.

As hard as it is for gung-ho medical and rescue teams to wait for that signal, she said, it’s essential to be part of an effective aid plan. “This is a time when we need to be reactive instead of proactive,” she said. “We need to be careful that we are part of the solution and don’t become part of the problem, that we are only dispatching folks that have been requested, that are wanted and needed.”

Back at the airport, Richard Bowie was frustrated by the holdup but undaunted in his zeal for getting ready to go.

“More, more, more,” he barked in response to a question about packing adequate supplies of drinking water and MREs, meals ready to eat. Bowie said DEEMI volunteers are prepared to spend a month or longer in the Gulf Coast region, retrieving bodies, distributing food, water and basic medical supplies, and transporting the ill and injured to hospitals.