Cox EMS responds to Tropical Storm Gustav

On the third anniversary of the day Hurricane Katrina hit the Louisiana coast, two CoxHealth Emergency Medical Services crews left Springfield to respond to the threat from another storm in that same region.

Tropical Storm Gustav is expected to be a major hurricane when it comes ashore Tuesday. Pre-Hospital Services director Mark Alexander says Cox is sending two ambulances with three crew members each to the staging area at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio. From there, the crews will get their specific assignments.

“Our two teams will be helping to evacuate people from nursing homes and hospitals,” says Alexander. “We all remember the sad stories coming out of hospitals in New Orleans with Katrina. The idea is to get there early and get people who can’t leave on their own out of harm’s way.”

One ambulance crew is stationed in Webster County. It includes supervisor Darrelene Smallwood, Ed Noland, EMT; and Fred Osbourn, who is a paramedic.

The second ambulance is stationed in Dade County. Its crew consists of David Compton, supervisor in Dade County; Sharon Baker, EMT, and Gerald Ellis, EMT. Baker and Ellis are stationed in Springfield.

CoxHealth EMS is a subcontractor of the American Medical Response, an agency contracted by FEMA to coordinate ambulance deployments to all natural or man-made disasters.

“Katrina demonstrated that these storms can be catastrophic,” says Alexander. “With that hurricane, the call for help came days later. This response is very different thanks to the lessons learned three years ago.”

Alexander says the loss of two ambulances will not put a strain on the EMS system because Cox utilizes staffing and vehicles in its regional system to make deployments to other parts of the country possible.

“Disasters like this require a nationwide response and we are part of the system that responds,” says Alexander. “We have to be ready to deploy to any disaster, no matter what kind or where it is.”