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September 9, 2005 > News > Rice EMTs treat victims at Astrodome

Rice EMTs treat victims at Astrodome

By Deepa Panchang and Marshall Robinson | Thresher staff

The first buses of evacuees from the Louisiana Superdome arrived at Reliant Park early Sept. 1. By that evening, Incident Command at the Reliant Astrodome was scrambling to provide medical treatment for the more than 10,000 victims of Hurricane Katrina who had arrived at the Astrodome and asked Rice Emergency Medical Services to help.

REMS captain Aaron Heckelman said more than 10 Rice EMTs helped other Houston medical personnel process the victims of Hurricane Katrina last weekend and have continued to help in smaller numbers throughout the week. Some of the EMTs were thrust into action Sept. 1, while some who came later had to search the Astrodome for evacuees to help. But all of them saw firsthand the devastation brought on the evacuees now housed at Reliant Park. Heckelman said Rice’s help to alleviate that devastation was significant.

“Even though we were just a drop in the bucket compared to the entire effort, we really did make a big contribution,” Heckelman, a Lovett College senior, said. “We definitely did help save some lives that first night.”

REMS Lieutenant Loyola Gressot went to Reliant Park in the afternoon Sept. 1 to survey the situation before sending a team of EMTs.

“The first day was horrible,” Gressot, a Baker College senior, said. “The smell was ungodly. … There were 56 buses at one time, and people were breaking windows to get out of the buses.”

Gressot said she only felt safe because a line of police officers separated the medical area from the crowd of evacuees.

“It wasn’t exactly a stable environment,” Gressot said.

The Rice EMTs who arrived at the Astrodome that evening split into two teams: one to help in the clinic set up inside the Astrodome and one to process newly arrived evacuees through a triage set up in the parking lot.

Hanszen College junior Todd Blumberg worked in the triage, where patients were screened and documented. They were then released or sent to the hospital or the clinic in the Astrodome. Blumberg said Rice EMTs tried to process the neediest victims.

“The EMTs were completely uninformed,” Blumberg said. “No one seemed to be in charge.”

But Heckelman said the Rice EMTs were especially helpful.

“When the buses were coming in, they really needed people who could pull people off the bus and determine if they were badly sick or injured,” he said.

Blumberg said some of the patients were in such bad condition they could not get off the buses by themselves. The evacuees who had been without necessary medications for a week were especially vulnerable. Many had hypertension, high blood pressure, chest pain and respiratory distress.

Gressot said she saw many victims with gastrointestinal illnesses and other serious conditions contracted from contaminated water, overwhelming heat or no access to medication.

“People hadn’t had their medicine for about a week,” Gressot said. “[Blood] pressure was through the roof, people with seizure disorders were having seizures, and the water was disgusting, so open wounds got infected. Everyone [who had been] in the water would need a tetanus shot. [Many people’s] extremities were swollen or infected.”

As the flow of evacuees into the Astrodome slowed, the situation became less chaotic, Gressot said. Despite the confusion, Gressot said her interaction with the evacuees was rewarding.

“Many people told us we were the first friendly people they had seen in days, after being treated like herds of cattle,” Gressot said.

By late at night Sept. 1, medical resources and organization at the Astrodome had improved. Martel College junior Cameron Decker said the Houston Fire Department brought many paramedics and medical supplies.

“I was shocked at the amount of resources we had,” Decker said. “I went in there thinking we would have nothing, but the fire department did not spare much expense.”

Although waiting times for medical assistance reached a few hours, Decker said the clinic inside the Astrodome offered many services. Martel junior Jon Avalos said a counseling center was set up and a prayer room assembled. Decker said many EMS teams from Houston and other cities treated evacuees.

“I was very impressed with how all the medical organizations were working together,” Decker said. “There were ambulances from both the emergency sectors and private sectors helping out.”

But Friday, another shift of eight Rice EMTs wandered the Reliant Center for an hour looking for work before being directed back to the Astrodome. Blumberg, Sid Richardson College junior Zaven Sargsyan and Will Rice College senior Rachana Patel were assigned to the triage area, where they took patients’ vital signs and background information before transferring the patients to doctors.

But Jones College sophomore Chris Conner, Sid sophomore Simon Tong, Lovett junior Jennifer Howse, Baker junior Kasia Kimmel and Hanszen junior Becky Thilo were not given assignments. They walked around the Astrodome and found many evacuees who did not require medical attention but wanted to ask about missing family members. Others just wanted their blood pressure taken.

Interacting with evacuees, often newly transported from the devastation in New Orleans, showed the EMTs what the evacuees have endured.

“It’s hard for me to understand how people who look so relieved when they’re getting off the buses have such tragic stories behind them,” Decker said. “These people have gone through hell.”

Russell said she spoke with a young boy and his father about the armed gang violence they had experienced in the Superdome. The father had been hurt in a fight between people struggling to get on a Houston-bound bus.

Avalos said spending time with the evacuees and hearing their stories was overwhelming but ultimately led him to understand how some turned violent.

“I can’t comprehend that extent of loss, nor can I apply it to such a great volume of people,” Avalos said. “It was bizarre. I felt like I was walking around collecting these heart-wrenching images that I would have to process later.”

Avalos said evacuees have been unfairly characterized as criminals. He said people held up cardboard signs with names of missing family members. Occasionally, people would locate their family members and the whole crowd would cheer, he said.

“There’s a lot of ugliness that comes from the desperation but there’s also good like that, and that’s what we need to focus on,” Avalos said.

Heckelman said the emphasis on crime was probably an overreaction.

“95 percent [of the evacuees] are perfectly law-abiding people,” Heckelman said. “For the most part, it’s people walking around in shock rather than people walking around trying to rob you.”

The EMTs were impressed by the outpouring of support from Houston residents.

“Houston is a really giving city,” Kimmel said. “Amid all the chaos and health concerns, there were so many volunteers — everyone was out there.”

Avalos said the need for aid and volunteerism will continue.

“This is not a problem that will go away in a weekend or week or two months,” Avalos said. “As a volunteer, you need to pace yourself. Don’t burn yourself out now. Go in once a week, and plan on doing that for a while.”

End of article

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