Tornado region help

[BigPoppa]

I'm about 2 hours away from the hard hit portions of Georgia and Alabama. I'd love to go down a couple days and help out with some medical needs. I'm not yet a member of DMAT or MRC, and I can't find an outlet or organization rounding up people to do what I want to do.

I am National Registry, and probably would just be doing vital signs checks, dressing cuts and scrapes from salvage work, etc. - non-invasive, advanced first aid type stuff.

I want to help out - can anyone point me in the right direction?

 

[HotelCo]

I'm about 2 hours away from the hard hit portions of Georgia and Alabama. I'd love to go down a couple days and help out with some medical needs. I'm not yet a member of DMAT or MRC, and I can't find an outlet or organization rounding up people to do what I want to do.

I am National Registry, and probably would just be doing vital signs checks, dressing cuts and scrapes from salvage work, etc. - non-invasive, advanced first aid type stuff.

I want to help out - can anyone point me in the right direction?

AMR has the federal contract. Contact them.

 

[BEorP]

Whatever you do, do not let your desire to help lead you to go there unless you find a group to be affiliated with.

 

[mycrofft]

Don't be a SUV (spontaneous unaffiliated volunteer).

If you can't get a billet with someone already going there, you can help this time by gathering money and donating it, or seeing if you can "backfill" in your location by volunteering to help at stuff the mobilized people would normally be doing (i.e., sorting stuff, preparing pallets, etc.). Late-minute volunteerism needs be out of the disaster area without a sponsor.

 

[crazycajun]

A few of our guys left today. They took vacation to go for two weeks. They contacted the Red Cross and were given contact information for the proper people. You could try there.

 

[mycrofft]

Red Cross chapters react differently.

If your local one has an answer you don't want, see if another a little farther out has a better one. One way or another, you will not be getting into a disaster area which has been put under control by law enforcement, FEMA, or such without having to dodge the authorities IF you are not vetted, ID'ed, etc. Being caught as unauthorized in such a zone can get you arrrested, jailed, and suspected of looting or being "a wingnut"...if you are lucky and not caught by upset locals instead.

 

[crazycajun]

Red Cross

If your local one has an answer you don't want, see if another a little farther out has a better one. One way or another, you will not be getting into a disaster area which has been put under control by law enforcement, FEMA, or such without having to dodge the authorities IF you are not vetted, ID'ed, etc. Being caught as unauthorized in such a zone can get you arrrested, jailed, and suspected of looting or being "a wingnut"...if you are lucky and not caught by upset locals instead.

Agreed. I lived in South Louisiana when Katrina and Rita hit. So many people just showed up to help form other States it was overwhelming. The problem was making sure all were legit. There were many cases of people claiming to be medics and could not even take base vitals. It didn't take long for the state to issue an order mandating State certification or face charges.

 

[mycrofft]

Katrina got even uglier

At a conference I went to they cited vollies (they specifically cited firefighters) showing up in droves, getting into trouble, getting into fights, and needing shelter, food, latrines, and medical care.
Another possible avenue is animal rescue groups.

 

[crazycajun]

At a conference I went to they cited vollies (they specifically cited firefighters) showing up in droves, getting into trouble, getting into fights, and needing shelter, food, latrines, and medical care.
Another possible avenue is animal rescue groups.

Not to mention the looting, charging for service and other things you wouldn't believe. It got really bad. Some rescuers were charging for bottled water they had eventhough it was given to them by FEMA.

I am not so sure about animal rescue. Many from Katrina were sued because they wouldn't return pets to owners or refused to give owners information as to who adopted their pet.

 

[medicdan]

AMR has the federal contract. Contact them.

AMR Has a Disaster Response Team (DRT) that non-employees can join. You should find info on their main website.

 

[medicRob]

I'm about 2 hours away from the hard hit portions of Georgia and Alabama. I'd love to go down a couple days and help out with some medical needs. I'm not yet a member of DMAT or MRC, and I can't find an outlet or organization rounding up people to do what I want to do.

I am National Registry, and probably would just be doing vital signs checks, dressing cuts and scrapes from salvage work, etc. - non-invasive, advanced first aid type stuff.

I want to help out - can anyone point me in the right direction?

They haven't activated us yet (MRC or DMAT-1). I just checked THAN 5 minutes ago and logged in to my DMAT-1 account (Also, DMAT-1 doesnt use EMTs anymore, when they did it was Paramedic only)

Not allowed to post pics of the DMAT page.

 

[mycrofft]

You all may remember "Hurrican Andrew"? (1992)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Andrew
Florida's governor at the time was asking on national media for help from anyone. I called my Guard unit...no word, stand tight. CAlled twice more...no word, not even Bravo alert. Later came to find Guard Bureau had literally thousands of volunteers from amongst its medical corps but was not given the green light, while the 82nd Airborne Division and the 10th Mountain Division were sent in once Florida officials embarassed president George Bush I into action.

 

[RoxyGurL]

I am in Tennessee very close to Apison & Rinngold, Ga where they were hit. I have helped out down there some. A few guys from my class are volunteer firefighters and have been helping. It is total devastation. I can't speak for all the damaged areas, but I know around here they really don't need medical help right now. They also are not really letting people to help sift through the damage because of the danger and the looting. They have already arrested quite a few people for looting. That's pretty pathetic! FEMA is moving in, and I have heard that once they do they will take everything over. While I was out there working, I came across of bunch of people trying to scam the victims. There were plenty of people offering food & water, but what has really been needed are chainsaws, trailers, heavy equipment, & strong backs.

 

[bstone]

Whatever you do, do not let your desire to help lead you to go there unless you find a group to be affiliated with.

Disagree. I did that after Katrina and ended up staying for 3 months and running an incredibly busy tent-based medical clinic.

 

[bstone]

Agreed. I lived in South Louisiana when Katrina and Rita hit. So many people just showed up to help form other States it was overwhelming. The problem was making sure all were legit. There were many cases of people claiming to be medics and could not even take base vitals. It didn't take long for the state to issue an order mandating State certification or face charges.

Overwhelming? Absolutely incorrect. I was down there from right after Katrina hit and we were desperate for help. Everyone was welcome to help, especially if you had medical training. I don't know about La, but in Mississippi (where I was) the state took a backseat when it came to certification. They fast-tracked those who did apply for certification and didn't care about those who had an out-of-state card.

 

[BEorP]

Disagree. I did that after Katrina and ended up staying for 3 months and running an incredibly busy tent-based medical clinic.

Take a read of any disaster management textbook... dealing with spontaneous/unaffiliated volunteers is always a challenge for those in charge. People can provide anecdotal evidence of a time when it may have been helpful, but in general it makes managing the incident more challenging.

 

[bstone]

The disaster management textbooks are written by those who have had little to no experience in large scale disasters. I have tons of experience is the worst-of-the-worst situations and I can tell you with great confidence that there is no such thing as "managing" any large scale disaster.

Lesson learned from Katrina: Do not reply upon the government to help in a large-scale disaster. Reply on yourself, your neighbors and those who come to help (especially unaffiliated volunteers).

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Waveland_Cafe_and_Clinic

 

[reaper]

After Katrina, MS was the worst. We went with five units, in a caravan with four other counties. They asked for help. We sat for a week, not allowed to do anything. Most went back home. It was the worst gov response I have seen and i have worked many hurricanes.

 

[bstone]

That's because you were official and you were waiting for some official word on deployment. FEMA and MEMA didn't show up to Hancock County for nearly 4 weeks after the storm. When they did the locals were so pissed that FEMA couldn't go anywhere without armed guards. So many experienced firefighters, paramedics and nurses were put to work stacking boxes in warehouses, not in the two clinics I was running where their help was desperately needed. I would tell the FEMA, MEMA and Red Cross folks at every opportunity I had to send their volunteers with medical training to me, but their response was entirely bureaucratic. It was a travesty.

On the other hand, the unofficial volunteers were just incredible. Did you read the Wikipedia article? Look at the references on the bottom. News reports from the LA Times, Chicago Tribune, a 5 part series from MSNBC, a 6 minute report from NPR- all about this unofficial group of individuals who came and built the largest soup kitchen and incredibly busy medical clinic in the Gulf Coast.

Like I said, it's impossible to "manage" any large-scale disaster. The officials think they are in charge while the people are dying. I saw it first hand and witnessed it every day.

 

[reaper]

No we were requested by the state, not FEMA. They shouldn't be relying on unorganized volunteers. The states failed big time.