Thu, Dec 04 2008
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Published August 30, 2008 12:38 am - Medics prepared if Gustav hits By Keith Purtell Phoenix Staff Writer A “strike team” at Muskogee County Emergency Medical Service is set to deploy to Texas today.
The medical team has been preparing for a year, and is ready to assist if Hurricane Gustav hits the coast. They spent a great deal of the day Friday getting gear together. Mike Ford, team leader, said medics have been training for this since being placed on standby in a similar situation last year. “We have two ambulances ready to go, 6-by-6 off-road patient movers, and a special event trailer,” he said. “Each one of us has a 72-hour bag containing everything we need to be self sufficient for at least 72 hours.” Laurel Havens, Region 4 EMS representative for Homeland Security, said the government has provided funding for EMS teams so they can be prepared for disasters. The state of Oklahoma received $2 million, and Muskogee County will get part of that in the form of a large command trailer later this year. “This will be the first time we have been called out of the state,” he said. “We’ll have five to six team members on the first rotation of five to seven days. They will be relieved by a second team from Muskogee. The State of Oklahoma Health Department has said this could last as long as 30 days.” Tropical Storm Gustav has been blamed for at least 68 deaths in the Caribbean, and U.S. forecasters said it could hit New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico oil fields as a potentially powerful hurricane this week. Ron Morris, operations coordinator, said dealing with the unknown of disaster response is not far outside the standard calls that medics handle. “When we’re called out on an ambulance call, we never know exactly what we’re going to find,” he said. “Our challenge is to be prepared for any challenge. This is a great opportunity for us to be able to respond in a way that is beyond what we normally do.” Havens said the staff has had a wide variety of training for this kind of disaster response. “They’ve all had NIMS (National Incident Management System) command and control classes,” he said. “They’ve been trained in disaster response, and the majority of them have been trained in dealing with hazardous materials.” He pointed out local disasters Muskogee County EMS has already experienced, such as the Interstate 40 bridge collapse and the Hurricane Katrina evacuees at Camp Gruber. Ford said all team members have the equipment ready to go and are mentally prepared. “Muskogee County EMS is very fortunate to be able to provide support,” he said. “We’ll be representing the state and our community.” The local Red Cross has donated all the food the team will need while they are deployed. 
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