|
 E-mail Story Print Friendly Send E-mailTo Russell Max Simon BY Recent stories by Russell Max Simon $$ NewsLibrary Archives search for Russell Max Simon '95-now  Reprint story
Related HELP OUT How you can help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
DONATE
WEB SITES  Journal photographer Josh Stephenson photo slide show from Hurricane Katrina.
|
Saturday, September 3, 2005
Firemen May Aid Katrina Effort
By Russell Max Simon
Journal Staff Writer
The call went out for help. Santa Fe County firefighters answered it.
They don't know when or even if they'll be deployed, but eight Santa Fe County firefighter/paramedics have volunteered to assist in the relief effort for Hurricane Katrina.
The request came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for 1,000 firefighting teams of two people each from counties and cities across the county, county Fire Chief Stan Holden said. The teams will be deployed for 30 days to the ravaged Gulf Coast, bringing their own food, their own supplies and their "mass casualty" training.
"I think the reason to volunteer to go down there is we take an oath in this job to help people, and it doesn't matter if they're here in New Mexico or somewhere else in the country. It there's work that needs to be done, we go and do it," said Reed Shelton, a firefighter/paramedic with the county for 12 years.
If deployed, Shelton will become a part of one of the largest disaster-relief efforts in American history. Shelton said his mass-casualty training has prepared him to be a part of a larger command structure, but that once on the ground, he expects it will be back to the basic hands-on experience of helping individuals.
"All in all, if you can help one person at a time, that's where you've got to start," said Mike Neely, a Santa Fe County firefighter/paramedic for six years. "If you look at this big thing and say you've got to help a thousand people, it won't work."
Neely is married with two teenage daughters. He said his whole family is supportive of his potential deployment. But both Shelton and Neely said 30 days was a long time to be away, and Neely said he expected they might be asked to stay even longer once they were there.
Neely said he didn't think twice when he got a message from Holden calling for volunteers.
"My understanding so far is that people need to get out of that area and to basically help those who are being taken out and get them relocated— just primarily life needs now, just keeping people living," he said. "As far as volunteering for that sort of situation, that's just what I do."
A former Marine, Neely said Hurricane Katrina was the largest disaster he's ever seen on American soil, "when people are just in such basic need of things we take for granted, like water and shelter."
Holden said preparations, such as making sure shifts are covered, were still being made and that he doesn't know exactly when the volunteers would leave.
"Obviously, it will be very severe, austere working conditions," he said. "They'll take their own provisions and make their own support. We don't know yet what vaccinations they'll have to get. And we obviously have a concern about their personal safety. But I've told the guys that volunteered to pack their things and get their personal gear together."