The EMT Thing
Sep. 7th, 2005 12:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
carocrowThere was an EMT Conference in NOLA the week before the hurricane, from August 23-27, 2005. I am sure that many of the people who attended the conference evacuated during the mandatory evacuation. A story about South Dakota EMTs who stayed: http://cms.firehouse.com/content/article/article.jsp?sectionId=17&id=44445
Some EMTs were asked to stay and assist the police and authorities; they were housed with, ate meals with, etc. the police at the Hilton. Here is a link to another story about the SD EMTs: http://www.emsnetwork.org/artman/publish/article_18260.shtml
I have trouble believing that there were EMTs and Nurses amongst the diaspora who were not actively seen, on any of the news reports, as helping people at the Convention Center (where the EMT conference was held the week before). I heard no reports of people helping from any of the reporters on the ground. I'm not saying they were everywhere, but I'd think that if there were any professionals wandering around in that crowd helping, they would have been pretty obvious next to the poor and elderly. If they had been there, I'd bet my bottom dollar they would have been snatched up by the Fire Department or Police Department pretty quickly.
So I'm going to reserve judgement about this post that is floating around. Judge for yourself.
EDIT: I do recall seeing a man at a shelter describing chartering a bus that was commandeered by the authorities, and ending up "saved" by a local who brought them to a local shelter. But that was a man with his wife and family, and he did not announce himself as a professional but a tourist. If there were EMTs in that group, why didn't anyone mention them? I'd like to "see" these people. But the story is posted on the same site as the SD story above, here:
http://www.emsnetwork.org/artman/publish/article_18337.shtml
EDIT #2: Hmm. These two do exist... but what a coincidence:
http://www.tbglabor.com/news.aspx?newsID=35
IF they were there, why weren't they acting like *these* EMTs?
http://www.emsnetwork.org/hilton/EMS-Command-Hilton-New-Orleans-Riverside-Brophy-John.htm
Some EMTs were asked to stay and assist the police and authorities; they were housed with, ate meals with, etc. the police at the Hilton. Here is a link to another story about the SD EMTs: http://www.emsnetwork.org/artman/publish/article_18260.shtml
I have trouble believing that there were EMTs and Nurses amongst the diaspora who were not actively seen, on any of the news reports, as helping people at the Convention Center (where the EMT conference was held the week before). I heard no reports of people helping from any of the reporters on the ground. I'm not saying they were everywhere, but I'd think that if there were any professionals wandering around in that crowd helping, they would have been pretty obvious next to the poor and elderly. If they had been there, I'd bet my bottom dollar they would have been snatched up by the Fire Department or Police Department pretty quickly.
So I'm going to reserve judgement about this post that is floating around. Judge for yourself.
EDIT: I do recall seeing a man at a shelter describing chartering a bus that was commandeered by the authorities, and ending up "saved" by a local who brought them to a local shelter. But that was a man with his wife and family, and he did not announce himself as a professional but a tourist. If there were EMTs in that group, why didn't anyone mention them? I'd like to "see" these people. But the story is posted on the same site as the SD story above, here:
http://www.emsnetwork.org/artman/publish/article_18337.shtml
EDIT #2: Hmm. These two do exist... but what a coincidence:
http://www.tbglabor.com/news.aspx?newsID=35
IF they were there, why weren't they acting like *these* EMTs?
http://www.emsnetwork.org/hilton/EMS-Command-Hilton-New-Orleans-Riverside-Brophy-John.htm
