News and Information for the community served by Jackson Community Ambulance

News and Information  

September 2, 2008

JCA medics head south to help after Hurricane Gustav

To help in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav, a crew of three Jackson Community Ambulance medics and an emergency paramedic ambulance has deployed and is now stationed just west of Biloxi, Mississippi on the Gulf Coast.  Presently, they are at a school that is serving as shelter for many area residents, now homeless from the flooding.  “We are providing first aid and other medical assistance”, states paramedic Wayne Gooding, the team leader. “The biggest problem is that some people forgot to take their medications when they evacuated.” Their next assignment will be to distribute food and water at a central location.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requested assistance from ambulance services such as JCA with rosters of volunteers ready to leave on short notice.  In addition to Gooding, the JCA crew consists of paramedic Kari Wilk and EMT-Specialist John Gamel. On August 29, they left in an ambulance stocked with food, water, communications equipment and medical supplies, prepared to go wherever they are needed.  The deployment can be up to 30 days.

For more information on their deployment or to interview any crew members for a story when they return, please contact Joyce Williams, JCA Public Affairs Manager, at 517-841-4852.

In 2005, JCA sent four medics, including Wayne Gooding as the team leader, and two ambulances to Texas after Hurricane Rita.  They spent a month completing a number of critical assignments in the storm-ravaged region.

JCA, a partnership between Huron Valley Ambulance and Allegiance Health, is a nationally accredited, nonprofit community ambulance service covering Jackson County.

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