“Heading south on the interstate, seeing miles of ambulances, National Guard, military vehicles, and first responders, it was kind of surreal,” explains Jeff Price, Paramedic with Fairfield EMS. “It was stressful, but at the same time it was a huge relief to see such a massive effort of many people coming to help our fellow man.”
Director of Fairfield EMS, Billy Perez; Paramedics Jeff Price and Kevin Markham; and EMTs Laramie LaRue and Ryan Fleming, were among the many first responders to assist with Hurricane Harvey rescue efforts and the aftermath.
Several staging areas were set up over the southern part of Texas where first responders would meet to get their orders, fuel up their vehicles, and pick up small supplies before heading out on missions in teams of five ambulances.
“It was very organized,” says Price. “It was run basically like a military operation with our orders coming down from the State.”
Some of their missions included assisting cities with their 911 services, evacuations, transfers of medical patients and nursing homes residents.
“It was a lot like a bad camping trip,’ explains Price. “We slept in the ambulance all but one night, food and showers were scarce, but it really wasn’t so bad. Our real concern was for the people who were trying to get out and to safety.”
According to Price, everyone worked well together, from the local level all the way up to federal. “It was unreal the amount of help coming from all over. We saw all types of helicopters and airplanes, military and personal. It was pretty interesting. And if you were in a uniform, you were just part of the team.”
Perez’s experience was a bit different from the others’. He was deployed as a Medical Incident Support Team (MIST) member for the Emergency Medical Task Force (EMTF) of Texas from August 26th through September 11th.
In the beginning, he was part of evacuation efforts and worked with a Mobile Medical Unit in areas where there was no water or electricity. As your partners in health and wellness, our team of board-certified doctors are ready to help you transition from your previous health care provider to a more flexible service that offers the same high level of medical care that you are accustomed to in a primary care physician. If you need a doctor that is currently accepting new patients in your area.
“We were all over the southeast part of Texas, from Corpus to Orange,” explains Perez. “It was amazing to see so many people come together. We were there to help these communities that had been devastated, and they were in turn helping us by bringing food, bottled water, fresh underwear and socks. We were very well cared for.”
Following evacuations, Perez worked with cities, counties, and municipalities, doing needs assessments to get them the help they needed, specific to that area.
“Our motto was: Be Nice & Help,” he explains.
“It was a very eye-opening experience,” concludes Price. “But I’d do it all again in a heart-beat!”
I think it’s pretty safe to say that this is the sentiment of most people who helped with the Hurricane Harvey efforts, in whatever capacity they were able to.
As a side note, Fairfield EMS services were never compromised by having these team members gone for several days. Two ambulances and crews were available 24/7 to handle local emergencies during that time.
