Lifeguard Ambulance aids Texas' Ike victims
BY PAM BRANNON Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

Kimbrell

One of Lifeguard Ambulance Service's vehicles logged 800 miles in one day during poststorm duty in Texas. It was one of the two Lifeguard ambulances from Santa Rosa County stationed in the Lone Star State helping Hurricane Ike victims.

Jason Kimbrell, Operations Manager for the county branch of Lifeguard, explained that two ambulances from this area responded to the call from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for help. Lifeguard sent three other ambulances from other areas they serve - two from Tennessee and one from Birmingham.

"When we know there is a storm coming, we start posting in e-mails and on our Web site for our people that we are going to be sending ambulances," Kimbrell said. "Crews can volunteer to go, but in the end we will make the final determination about who gets deployed on the basis of several things.

"It might be experience. It might be what type of crew is needed. It might be how long we expect them to be gone," he added. "We take into consideration leadership skills, experience, as well as training levels. So far, all our teams have always received rave reviews."

Kimbrell said Lifeguard's crews were part of a 450-ambulance task force dispatched for the storm.

"The Disaster Manager for FEMA determines how many ambulances are needed and how many each supplier can provide," Kimbrell said. "Then they tell us to get ready. They watch the storm to make sure it is going to make landfall in a general area where it is predicted. Then we get activated to go about 48 to 72 hours before landfall.

"Of course, they don't send all 450 ambulances to the same location; they are broken down into strike teams and spread out in surrounding areas waiting to see where the storm will actually make landfall. Storms wobble."

Once ambulances reach their spot, they are placed on 24-hour call.

"When the storm narrows, they may be sent to another location," Kimbrell said.

"For example, our two ambulances were sent to San Antonio. Later, one crew was moved to Houston. We put 800 miles on one ambulance in one day for Ike. The crew gets paid for round-the-clock, 24-hour service when on a disaster deployment, and they sleep when and if they can. I talk to then twice a day. One of our crews for Ike one day was in San Antonio at 9 a.m., Dallas by 2 p.m., and Waco later that day," Kimbrell said.

Kimbrell said Lifeguard is called during all national disasters because of the level of expertise and equipment it provides.

"We absorb the most seriously ill or injured, because of our crews' expertise and training, and the equipment on our ambulances is better and at a higher level than most ambulances responding," Kimbrell said.

He said Lifeguard responds to all kinds of calls, from transferring hospital or nursing home patients out of harm's way - or back home - to special-needs patients and people who might need home health care, like oxygen tanks that have lost power or batteries. And, of course, they respond to any emergency situation as a result of the storm.

"We never know how long the deployment will be," he said.