EMT Ambulance...................In it for life!  

We had several of our Medic's "answer the call" in New Orleans and surrounding gulf cost areas.  1200 Miles from home, we arrived after getting a request from Acadian Ambulance asking for "whatever we can send" we were able to supply 2 units to aid in the relief and rescue efforts. 

We left Tuesday and arrived in New Orleans Wednesday August 31st and quickly began to transport both medical patients, as well as simple "evacuee's" from waterside to the local mobile hospitals and other evacuation points.  We were honored to work hand in hand with both local New Orleans rescue workers, as well as with services from other areas. 

Early on, we ran into a squad from West Virginia, which was a welcome site to see people from "our direction" on the ground helping.  I only wish we could have sent more trucks, sooner than we did, but am very glad that we could help out in such a large scale event.

Below are some photographs that we took, plus some that were sent to us from other people.  This was quite an experience and we were able to meet and work with some of the best in our field!

Above Scott and John get to meet and work under US Army General Honore the "Ragin Cajun"

Above is a view of the EOC parking lot on World Center Drive on Saturday 9-3-05, after several more ambulances began to arrive to help us out

.

Above is our unit passing in front of the New Orleans Convention Center.  We transported many patients INTO this location to a MASH style hospital that was set up.  And then transported many of them to the New Orleans Airport to another MASH style hospital, for triage and air transport to other locations.

Above is the water near the Super Dome that we drove our unit 11 thru to get to people, that was not such a great idea.  It was necessary, although began a long line of problems, which never stopped our unit, although it slowed it a bit!  It never dawned on us, being from the Ohio Valley, that the water here, was salt water!

Overall Katrina Timeline

Tuesday, August 23:
• 5:00 PM EDT: National Hurricane Center announcement: "Data from an Air Force reserve unit reconnaissance aircraft...along with observations from the Bahamas and nearby ships...indicate the broad low pressure area over the southeastern Bahamas has become organized enough to be classified as tropical depression twelve."
 

Wednesday, August 24:
• 11:00 AM EDT: National Hurricane Center announcement: "Satellite imagery...Doppler radar data from the Bahamas and Miami... and reconnaissance wind data indicate [tropical depression twelve] has become much better organized this morning and has strengthened into tropical storm Katrina."
 

Thursday, August 25:
• 5:00 PM EDT: The National Hurricane Center upgrades tropical storm Katrina to "Hurricane Katrina".
• 7:00 PM EDT: Katrina makes landfall in Florida.
 

Friday, August 26:
• 11:30 AM EDT: Katrina is upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane.
• 5:00 PM EDT: The National Hurricane Center issues an advisory forecasting that Katrina would soon be a Category 3 hurricane.
• 5:00 PM CDT: Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco declares a state of emergency for Louisiana (see public document).
• Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour declares a state of emergency for Mississippi (see public document).
 

Saturday, August 27:
• President George W. Bush's weekly radio address focuses on Gaza withdrawal and the Iraqi constitution. He makes no mention of Hurricane Katrina.
• President Bush officially declares that a "state of emergency" exists in Louisiana and orders Federal aid to the affected areas to complement state and local relief efforts.
• 5:00 PM CDT: New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin declares a State of Emergency and issues a voluntary evacuation order, saying he is having his legal team determine if he can order a mandatory evacuation without exposing the city to legal liability for the closure of hotels and other businesses.
• 8:00 PM EDT: National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield briefs Louisiana Gov. Blanco, New Orleans Mayor Nagin and Mississippi Gov. Barbour on Katrina's status. (SRC=TPM reporting)
• 11:00 PM EDT: the National Hurricane Center issues a warning suggesting that Katrina is moving in a western direction in an area that includes New Orleans.
 

Sunday, August 28:
• 1:00 AM CDT: Katrina is declared a Category 4 storm.
• 8:00 AM EDT: Katrina is declared a Category 5 storm, the highest possible rating.
• Approx. 10:00 AM CDT: New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin orders mandatory evacuations of New Orleans.
• Approx. 12:00 PM EDT: National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield personally briefs President Bush as part of regular FEMA briefing. (SRC=TPM reporting)
• Louisiana Governor Blanco sends letter to President Bush requesting various federal aid.
• President Bush declares a state of emergency for both Mississippi and Alabama, and declared Florida a federal disaster area in light of damage done by Hurricane Katrina.
• Afternoon: Director of the National Weather Service (NWS) National Hurricane Center (NHC), Max Mayfield, personally briefs President Bush about Katrina by videoconference.
 

Monday, August 29:
• 6:10 AM CDT: Katrina, a Category 4 hurricane with 145 mph winds, makes initial landfall near Buras, La.
• FEMA director Michael Brown waits 5 hrs after Katrina has hit to ask his boss, Michael Chertoff, for 1000 Homeland Security employees to be sent to the region and gave them two days to arrive.
• Shortly before 8:00 AM CDT: Storm surge sends water over the Industrial Canal. Soon afterwards, Army Corps of Engineers officials believe "a barge broke loose and crashed through the floodwall, opening a breach that accelerated flooding into the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish."
• 8:14 AM CDT: The National Weather Service New Orleans office issues a flash flood warning stating there had been a breach in the Industrial Canal levee with 3 to 8 feet of water expected in the 9th Ward and Arabi.
• Approx. 9:00 AM CDT: Eye of hurricane Katrina passes over city of New Orleans.
• Approx. 9:00 AM CDT: 6 to 8 feet of water covers New Orleans Lower 9th Ward.
• Late morning: 17th Street Canal levee is breached. Other reports place the breach much earlier. According to Knight-Ridder, a National Guard timeline places the breach at 3 AM, three hours before the storm made landfall.
• 2:00 PM CDT: City officials publicly confirm breach of 17 Street Canal levee.
• President Bush makes emergency disaster declarations for Louisiana , Mississippi, and Alabama, freeing up federal funds.
• Katrina rips two holes in the Superdome's roof. Some 10,000 storm refugees are inside.
• At least eight Gulf Coast refineries shut down or reduce operations.
• FEMA Head Michael Brown urges emergency service personnel "not to respond to hurricane impact areas unless dispatched by state, local authorities."
• The American Red Cross announces that it is "launching the largest mobilization of resources in its history" to assist Katrina victims. FEMA encourages the public to donate to this and other private organizations involved in relief work.
 

Tuesday, August 30:
• 9:04 AM PDT: President Bush delivers a speech in San Diego on the 60th anniversary of V-J Day. President begins speech with brief remarks on hurricane relief efforts, tells audience, "The federal, state and local governments are working side-by-side to do all we can to help people get back on their feet." Remainder of the speech is dedicated to the need to "stay the course" in Iraq.
• 9:24 AM PDT: The AP reports that President Bush will cut short his vacation to focus on the storm damage.
• Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco says everyone still in New Orleans an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 people must be evacuated. Crowds swell at the Superdome and the New Orleans convention center.
• Approx. 3:30 PM CDT: At press conference with Sen. Landrieu, Gov. Blanco and others, FEMA official Bill Lokey tells press: "In the metropolitan area in general, in the huge majority of areas, it's not rising at all. It's the same or it may be lowering slightly. In some parts of New Orleans, because of the 17th Street breach, it may be rising and that seemed to be the case in parts of downtown. I don't want to alarm everybody that, you know, New Orleans is filling up like a bowl. That's just not happening."
• 10:00 PM CDT: New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin announces that the planned sandbagging of the 17th Street Canal levee breach has failed.
• "Late Tuesday": DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff declares Katrina an 'Incident of National Significance', "triggering for the first time a coordinated federal response to states and localities overwhelmed by disaster." Declaration is first use of DHS National Response Plan.
 

Wednesday, August 31: - EMT Medic 11 Arrives Baton Rouge
• President Bush heads back to Washington from vacationing in Crawford, TX. Though he does not land in Louisiana, Air Force One flies over the Gulf Coast so that he can view the devastation.
• Louisiana Gov. Blanco issues order for emergency occupation of hotel and motel rooms (see public document).
• Louisiana Gov. Blanco issues order authorizing the commandeering and use of buses for evacuation and relief efforts (see public document).
• HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt makes determination that public health emergencies exist in the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi (see public document).
• Shortly after 5 PM: President Bush holds a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House during which he details his strategy for short-term recovery efforts.
• Governor Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana orders that all of New Orleans, including the Superdome, be evacuated. An exodus from the Superdome begins, with the first buses leaving for Houston's Astrodome, 350 miles away.
• New Orleans 's 1,500 member police force is ordered to abandon search and rescue missions and turn their attention toward controlling the widespread looting and a curfew is placed in effect. Mayor Ray Nagin calls for increased federal assistance
• 11:09 PM: The Times-Picayune reports that 3,000 or more evacuees are stranded at the convention center.
 

Thursday, September 1:
• 2:00 AM: The first evacuees arrive at the Astrodome in Houston
• The (suburban Chicago) Daily Herald reports that House Majority Leader Dennis Hastert says rebuilding New Orleans "doesn't make sense to me."
• 7:00 AM: President Bush appears on ABC News' Good Morning America. Diane Sawyer asks the President, " what's taking so long?" after telling Bush that "some of the things they have asked our correspondents to ask you is, they expected, they say to us, that the day after this hurricane that there would be a massive and visible armada of Federal support." Bush responds by noting that "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees. They did anticipate a serious storm."
• At around the same time, evacuees from the New Orleans area and the Louisiana Superdome begin arriving at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas.
• FEMA announces guidelines to contractors interested in "doing business with FEMA during the Hurricane Katrina recovery."
• Looting, carjacking and other violence spreads, and the military decides to increase National Guard deployment to 30,000.
• New Orleans mayor Nagin calls the situation critical and issues ``a desperate SOS'' for more buses to evacuate those stranded at the Convention Center.
• Bush asks his father and former President Clinton to lead a fund-raising campaign for hurricane victims.
• On NPR’s All Things Considered, Chertoff claims, "I have not heard a report of thousands of people in the convention center who don't have food and water."
• On Nightline, Michael Brown tells Ted Koppel “We just learned of the convention center -- we being the federal government -- today.”
 

Friday, September 2: - EMT Medic 5 Arrives Baton Rouge
• The Reliant Center in Houston is opened to evacuees when the Fire Marshal declares the Astrodome to be at capacity.
• A chemical plant explosion rocks New Orleans in the early hours of the morning. Rumors that the chemical cloud produced by the explosion was toxic were later determined not to be credible.
• Louisiana Gov. Blanco issues second order authorizing the commandeering and use of buses for evacuation and relief efforts; order of August 31st rescinded (see public document).
• President Bush tours Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana to survey Katrina's damage. He describes the result of relief efforts up to that point as "not acceptable."
• National Guard arrives in New Orleans.
• FEMA releases a statement: "patience in the wake of Hurricane Katrina."
• Congress approves and President Bush signs an initial $10.5 billion aid package for immediate rescue and relief efforts.
• The Congressional Black Caucus, along with the NAACP, Black Leadership Forum, and the National Urban League express dismay over the sluggish relief efforts in New Orleans, citing the poverty of the victims as a primary reason for the delay.
• The Bush administration asks Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco to request a federal takeover of relief efforts. The move would have given the federal government control over Louisiana's National Guard and local police. The state eventually rejected the proposal.
 

Saturday, September 3:
• Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff declares that Katrina constituted "a combination of catastrophes exceeded the foresight of the planners, and maybe anybody's foresight." CNN reports that "government officials, scientists and journalists have warned of such a scenario for years."
• Chertoff also asserts that "our constitutional system really places the primary authority in each state with the governor," in response to a question about the federal government's response to the catastrophe.
• Governor Kathleen Blanco (D-La) hires James Lee Witt, FEMA director under President Clinton, to advise her during the relief effort.
• DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff and other Bush aides hold two hour meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other black leaders.
• 4 PM: the Department of Homeland Security releases a document of "Highlights of the United States Government Response to the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina."
Sunday, September 4:
• FEMA establishes a hotline to collect donations for assisting victims.
• Jefferson Parrish president Aaron Broussard claims on Meet the Press that aid to his Parrish was blocked by FEMA.
• The Washington Post prints an article announcing that Louisiana Governor Blanco had not declared a state of emergency (later, it printed a correction, noting that she had, in fact, made the declaration on August 26)
 

Monday, September 5:
• President Bush returns for second visit to the Gulf Coast region.
• The AP reports that Kellogg Brown & Root, the subsidiary of Halliburton Co that has been criticized for its reconstruction work in Iraq, has begun work on a $500 million U.S. Navy contract for emergency repairs at Gulf Coast naval and marine facilities that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina
• While touring the Astrodome, Former First Lady Barbara Bush, tells American Public Media's "Marketplace" program:"Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them.”
 

Tuesday, September 6:
• President Bush announces that he will lead an investigation into what went wrong in hurricane relief efforts.
 

Thursday, September 8:
Citing "a national emergency", President Bush suspends the Davis-Bacon Act in storm ravaged areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

President Bush meets with Speaker Hastert and Senator Frist to discuss a "joint bipartisan investigation" of the response to Katrina.
 

Friday, September 9:
9:49 AM EDT: The AP reports that Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, in a 20/20 interview to be aired later that night, criticizes the response at all levels of the government to Hurricane Katrina, saying "When you look at those who weren't able to get out, it should have been a blinding flash of the obvious to everybody that when you order a mandatory evacuation, you can't expect everybody to evacuate on their own. These are people who don't have credit cards; only one in 10 families at that economic level in New Orleans have a car. So it wasn't a racial thing — but poverty disproportionately affects African-Americans in this country. And it happened because they were poor."
 

Saturday, September 10:
New Orleans Times Picayune runs front page banner headline: "Death Toll May Not Be as High as Feared." The Army Corps of Engineers reports that it has closed the final breach in the 17th Street Canal and London Avenue Canal systems.

Mass Immunizations

We began locating multiple "teams" of EMS coupled with Doctors and Nurses and began to immunize all that were willing to try to eliminate the "second wave" meaning the large number of ill people from contact with contamination and other factors. 

"Rita Evacuation"

While still wrapping up from our first experience of the devastating power of a Hurricane after its arrival, we got to witness one in person.  Although we were not excited about the first hand experience, we are glad we were closer and able to help evacuate patients who could not move themselves out of the path of yet another storm in this region.

St. Patrick's Medical Center  9-21-22-2005

Loading Patients onto C-130 at Chennault Airpark, Lake Charles, LA

Kids of EMT

When the first ambulance left Ohio to head to the disaster areas left by Katrina, some of the "kids of EMT" went into "motion" to initiate a fundraiser to raise money to purchase things to be sent to the effected areas.  These kids did this entirely on their own, by purchasing inexpensive supplies to construct bracelets with "SAVOK" on them, which stands for "Save All Victims Of Katrina"  These kids, ranging in age from 8 to 14 then went to their local Rite Aid and asked for permission to set up a stand to sell these to the public.  They raised $350 in their efforts, then went shopping!  They purchased supplies and shipped them to a shelter in Baton Rouge housing displaced families. 

From Left to right, Brandon, Kourtney, Ashlee, David, Steven, and Kenny.  Good Job Kids!  This is the way to put others before yourself!

EMT ambulance is a proud member of the:  

CHECKING THE SUPPLIES. Tony, above, is responsible for the supply checks on the ambulance in the morning. Since he is the paramedic for this squad, he is the only person with the combination for the medicine.

SAVING LIVES: the job

Editor's Note:  This story involves spending 12 hours with Emergency Medical Transport (EMT) Ambulance Service in Carrollton.
by Linette Nuske Accent Editor 
 

Ninety percent boredom and 10% panic-that is how one of the paramedics from EMT in Carrollton described his job.

I have always wondered what it would be like to be an EMT (emergency medical technician). The excitement, the lights and sirens....how fun it would be. After spending a day with two EMTs and two paramedics, however, I was able to see the other side of the job.
 

My day started at 8:00 a.m. with Tony Sines, a Canton City fireman who has also been a paramedic for nine years. This is his second week working at the Longhorn St., Carrollton, station. He began his day with a total check of the ambulance he would be running along with his partner Dan Moffett, a former Amsterdam assistant fire chief and four year EMT.
 

The inspection includes mechanically checking the ambulance, making sure all medical supplies are present and all controlled supplies are tagged. Each supply has it's place so that in an emergency, it is easily accessible. The total check takes about 20 minutes. The controlled supplies are medicines, such as morphine, which are highly controlled. They are locked with a control tag including numbers which are recorded daily to make sure they aren't tampered with. The paramedic with that ambulance, in this case, Tony, is responsible if anything should happen to these medicines. Also on the vehicle is a portable oxygen tank, an on board oxygen tank, a heart monitor, backboard, the list goes on and on. They are able to treat all kinds of situations including traumas, diabetic emergencies, burns, psychiatric conditions-just about anything you can think of.
 

I always thought an EMT and paramedic were the same thing. I was wrong and was quickly corrected. An EMT is certified for basic airway maneuvers and patient assessment. A paramedic is certified to dispense medicine and has more advanced training. Every squad, or ambulance, requires at least two EMTs or one EMT and one paramedic. The person with the most training and experience always rides with the patient, the other partner does the driving.
 

At 8:40 a.m. it was time for breakfast. The three of us along with Dave Gambone, a Canton City fireman and 5 year paramedic, and Colleen Anderson, a two year EMT who is currently studying for her paramedic certification, stopped at Heartland Hill Restaurant to eat. Since I usually don't eat breakfast I was going to order toast or a muffin. Tony pointed out that it was the most important meal of the day, (I would realize that later). We were all eating a hearty breakfast when the first call came in. Tony and Dan took that call. I went back to the station with Colleen and Dave.
At 11:30 a.m. our first call came in. A person needed to be transported due to a staph infection. When we arrived in Minerva, Dave and Colleen assessed the patient and got her ready for transport to Alliance Community Hospital. Since it wasn't a major emergency, we didn't use the lights or sirens. On the way to the hospital, Dave took the patient's information, took her pulse, blood pressure and assessed her further. When we were a few miles away, Dave notified the Hospital about the arrival of the patient, the condition of the patient and our approximate arrival time.
We arrived at Alliance Hospital at about noon and saw the other squad with Tony and Dan who had also taken their patient to Alliance Hospital.
 

After transporting the patient to the emergency room, Colleen and I got the gurney ready for another transport. This included putting a clean sheet on the gurney, fresh blankets, clean pillowcase and getting the gurney back in the ambulance. While we were doing that, Dave was giving the information he collected from the patient to the nurse at the hospital so she would be up to date on the patient's complaints, current condition, allergies and medicines.
 

Another call came just before we left the hospital, for both squads. This one was from Aultman Hospital. Our call was for a patient who had been hospitalized for two weeks with pneumonia and needed medical care for the ride home, due to the fact she was on constant oxygen. Tony and Dan's squad was also taking a patient back to Carrollton to a nursing home.
 

So, we were off again. With the construction on SR 62, it took a little longer than usual to get there. We arrived at Aultman at 2:00. Tony and Dan beat us there and were gloating that they were better drivers. Dave, Colleen and I went to our patient's room and got her ready for the transport home. We had to gather a portable oxygen tank, patient information and personal belongings. A relative who was with the patient was able to gather her belongings for us. We were again on our way. While in transport, the patient's vitals were taken and monitored. We arrived at the patient's residence at about 3:00 p.m. and got her settled in.
When we got back to the station, Tony and Dan strolled in with food. I thought I would get a bite to eat also. No, it was time to re-stock the supplies in the ambulance, wash the ambulance floor, re-do the gurney and clean up the inside of the ambulance. Colleen, since she was the driver on that trip, was responsible for all of those tasks. I had noticed that whoever takes care of the patient, their partner would do the clean up.
 

After the clean up, we all went into the station to take a break. Tony, Dave, Dan and I decided to play a quick game of Euchre, but that didn't last long. At 4:30 p.m., a call came in from Stat-Care in Carrollton. A patient needed to be transported to Mercy Hospital after being assessed by a doctor. This time, I rode with Tony and Dan. The patient complained of dizziness and a little bit of chest pain. We quickly loaded him in the ambulance and took off.
 

The heart monitor was hooked up and other vitals were taken. The patient was constantly monitored for any change of condition and oxygen was administered.
I was trying to take notes, something made almost impossible by the bouncing of the ambulance, but, Tony somehow was able to administer an IV. There's a big difference between putting pen to paper and inserting a needle into a vein. The respect I had already collected for these people, grew even more.
 

We arrived at Mercy and took the patient to the emergency room. Tony gave the patient's information to the nurse while Dan and I got the gurney ready again. We arrived back at the station at 6:15 p.m. I was starting to get a little tired.
During the day, I had a chance to talk to each of the EMTs and paramedics. We talked about their worst transport, the funniest, the most memorable. Some stories were hilarious, some heroic, some painful.
 

"You never get over the painful ones," said Dan, "You just learn how to deal with it, but the pain never goes away." As he described his experiences, he was right, the pain was still there, I could see it in his eyes.
 

A lot of people don't realize what stress is put on EMTs and paramedics who sometimes have to deal with the unthinkable....children who are critically injured, burn victims, major traumas, death. Training doesn't make the feelings go away, nor does it make people insensitive. It is no wonder.
 

A paramedic and EMT's shift usually consists of three-24 hour shifts, for full-time. Dave and Tony are not full time paramedics. They work one or two shifts out of Carrollton, but their full time job is in Canton as firefighters. There are a total of 43 employees at the Carroll County, Cadiz and Massillon EMT stations. In Carroll County, there are 10 full-time and 10 part-time employees.
 

There were no more runs for me that day. I left that evening with deep respect for their profession--a respect for Dave, Tony, Dan and Colleen for being able to do their job. Most of the time, people in this profession are the unsung heroes we never hear about.

KEEPING IT CLEAN! After a run, Dan washes down the ambulance for better appearance  EMT's units are washed and disinfected multiple times every day. 

 

We have added 2 more wheel chair vehicles to our growing vehicle list!  This will better assist our growing demand for affordable transportation for wheel chair bound patients!  Our wheelchair services are available to the public!  If you are wheelchair bound, call to schedule your appointment today!  Our courteous staff is there to assist you!  These trucks are ALSO GPS tracked for your safety and security!  

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Last modified: November 27, 2009