Emergency Medical Service Workers Battle a Hurricane, and COVID-19, To Bring Health Care To New Orleans

As Hurricane Ida pounded the coast of New Orleans with downpours and 150-mile-per-hour winds on the afternoon of Aug. 29, New Orleans Emergency Medical Services had to reverse course after spending 18 months running around the city at full speed battling COVID-19: staying put. For 13 hours and 41 minutes, as the storm’s worst shook their community, the workers hunkered down at their base, keeping themselves safe to be ready to protect others from whatever came next. However, the deluge of 9-1-1 calls didn’t come to a halt as EMS waited out the storm. So, after EMS workers were given the go-ahead to rush back into the city streets, they worked through the massive queue that developed, putting in 12-hour-shift after 12-hour -shift to keep up with the volume of calls. Within the first day and a half alone, their team responded to 323 calls. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] New Orleans’ levee held, protecting residents from the Gulf’s surging waters, but power is still through much of the city amid soaring humidity and over 90°F heat, meaning that hundreds of people a day remain in need of help. Over the past week, residents have called in to report heat exhaustion, asking for water or a place to cool down, as well as carbon monoxide poisoning—dizziness, shortness of breath, fainting—largely due to electric generators, whose engines emit carbon monoxide and need to be used outdoors only, improperly placed indoors or near windows...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized climate change COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news