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Hi, folks. My name is Brad. I'm an EMT-Intermediate originally from the Chicago area, but now living in Boston. I spent 3 months in Waveland, MS. I got there early September 05 and stayed until early December 05. While there I saw, experienced and became involved in things that I could never imagine.
When I arrived in Waveland, MS which ia 42 miles east of New Orleans I could not even imagine the destruction which I was seeing. Not a single building standing, no homes left erect, debris and the smell of death everywhere. It was entirely unreal.
Waveland, population 7000, was entirely decimated from the storm. I had friends from my summer camping experience (Rainbow Gathering) who were setting up a free kitchen and feeding people. I jumped into action and set up a first aid station. Out of a small tent I was doing boo-boos, checking sugar and BP and trying to help as best as I could.
At this point the heat was an unbearable 120 F. Our relief work was being done in a large parking lot, so the heat radiating from the blacktop was unreal.
People kept coming into my first aid tent asking where they could see a doctor. There was a mobile ER from North Carolina about a mile up the road, but they were seeing up to 300 patients a day and waiting for 12 hours in the blazing sun. People needed a place where they could see a regular family doctor for regular needs.
I jumped into action. I began to call, email, beg and plead to any family doc out there, "We need you now!" Thankfully, docs came in from around the US for a week at a time. We peaked at over 100 patients a day, but mostly were at 50-70 a day.
We had all sorts of things at the 'New Waveland Clinic'. People came for medication refills, mostly. Thankfull Pfizer donated over $70,000 of medication. They sent meds for HTN, DM, antibiotis, etc. It was exactly what the docs needed.
For 3 months I lived out of the back of my car all in order to administrate the New Waveland Clinic. It was entirely non-govenmental so I didn't have to deal with the bureaucratic side of things too much. I made sure ever doc and nurse had a temporary Mississippi license (as did I), but all in all they came and just worked.
I went to a lot of Health Dept meetings. We also had meetings for the other free clinics in the area. All of the free clinics were non-governmental. The gov't didn't help us with almost anything. Certainly not getting new docs or nurses, meds or other supplies. It was almost like they didn't know how to help so just let us do our thing. The local EOC in Hancock County was entirely supportive of our doings, but they were so busy with other things they had little ablity to help out in the medical realm.
Anyways, after 3 months the local hospital reopened and two local docs came back. I closed the 'New Waveland Clinic' and cried when we took down the tents. It was by far the most humbling experience of my entire life and I am glad I was able to be in service of my fellow human beings.
The end numbers were: 5000 patient visits, $60,000 in free medicaton given away
I hope you enjoyed reading this. Please feel free to ask questions or share experiences.
Sincerely,
brad stone, emt-intermediate
When I arrived in Waveland, MS which ia 42 miles east of New Orleans I could not even imagine the destruction which I was seeing. Not a single building standing, no homes left erect, debris and the smell of death everywhere. It was entirely unreal.
Waveland, population 7000, was entirely decimated from the storm. I had friends from my summer camping experience (Rainbow Gathering) who were setting up a free kitchen and feeding people. I jumped into action and set up a first aid station. Out of a small tent I was doing boo-boos, checking sugar and BP and trying to help as best as I could.
At this point the heat was an unbearable 120 F. Our relief work was being done in a large parking lot, so the heat radiating from the blacktop was unreal.
People kept coming into my first aid tent asking where they could see a doctor. There was a mobile ER from North Carolina about a mile up the road, but they were seeing up to 300 patients a day and waiting for 12 hours in the blazing sun. People needed a place where they could see a regular family doctor for regular needs.
I jumped into action. I began to call, email, beg and plead to any family doc out there, "We need you now!" Thankfully, docs came in from around the US for a week at a time. We peaked at over 100 patients a day, but mostly were at 50-70 a day.
We had all sorts of things at the 'New Waveland Clinic'. People came for medication refills, mostly. Thankfull Pfizer donated over $70,000 of medication. They sent meds for HTN, DM, antibiotis, etc. It was exactly what the docs needed.
For 3 months I lived out of the back of my car all in order to administrate the New Waveland Clinic. It was entirely non-govenmental so I didn't have to deal with the bureaucratic side of things too much. I made sure ever doc and nurse had a temporary Mississippi license (as did I), but all in all they came and just worked.
I went to a lot of Health Dept meetings. We also had meetings for the other free clinics in the area. All of the free clinics were non-governmental. The gov't didn't help us with almost anything. Certainly not getting new docs or nurses, meds or other supplies. It was almost like they didn't know how to help so just let us do our thing. The local EOC in Hancock County was entirely supportive of our doings, but they were so busy with other things they had little ablity to help out in the medical realm.
Anyways, after 3 months the local hospital reopened and two local docs came back. I closed the 'New Waveland Clinic' and cried when we took down the tents. It was by far the most humbling experience of my entire life and I am glad I was able to be in service of my fellow human beings.
The end numbers were: 5000 patient visits, $60,000 in free medicaton given away
I hope you enjoyed reading this. Please feel free to ask questions or share experiences.
Sincerely,
brad stone, emt-intermediate
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