By Jim Love
EMSafety.net
Monday marked the five-year-anniversary of Katrina, and I think that everyone who was alive at that time will remember the images we saw nightly on TV. Images from the Superdome; people waving guns at helicopters. Images of the dead; those who died waiting for help that never came. I think we will also remember the failure of the government — of FEMA.
I had the rare opportunity to be deployed to Gulfport, Mississippi a few days after Katrina hit. I received the tour of the tent city that had sprung up on our property — the MASH style kitchen and facilities. Already there were a hundred crews rotating into the area to provide help. Then I got the tour of the city.
Complete blocks of houses and building were gone. In some places, only stumps of buildings were left. At the site of a church, the only recognizable part was the old steeple and cross. The rest was totally gone. We drove up what could be loosely defined as a road. A short way up the road, we stopped. My local guide and friend got out — so I did the same. He walked over to a pile of rubble and began to pick through it. He wandered around, following what was left of hallways.
He began to describe what was what, what rooms were where. I realized this was his house, and it was completely and totally ruined as were most of his possessions. We all saw the images on TV. We rarely saw behind the scenes. Never in my 30 plus years in EMS was I so proud of my profession, so proud of those I never met but felt so connected to.
My friend lost his house as did so many others. Yet each day he was at work to make sure others suffered less. Another friend, trapped during the storm rise, wrote his name on his arm so he could be identified and his wife could be notified. He lived and was back at work every day, standing tall.
And help in the form of EMTs and paramedics, mechanics and supervisors came from all over the country.
They camped out with the mosquitoes and the incredible humidity. Sometimes without a shower and always without hot water. For months they lived in these conditions away from family and their normal lives. They did not complain. How could they? In every case they worked next to someone who had lost everything.
One vehicle had to be placed out of service. They were transporting a body that had been in the water for several days. The gas in the vehicle built up and it exploded — then it sat and baked in the heat for weeks.
We went into a nursing home looking for survivors, instead finding a group of patients who had all died. They had tied themselves together. If one got out — they all got out. In this case no one made it.
The EMTs and paramedics I toured with during these times saw things most people can not even imagine. On this five-year anniversary of Katrina, not only do I remember the people of New Orleans and of Gulfport, I remember the brave responders who went not knowing what to expect, and whose lives were forever changed.
I invite others to share their memories of Katrina. God Bless.