Tyler

By ASHLIE OSBURN
Staff Writer

Two Tyler organizations left for a mission to South Texas Tuesday afternoon, hoping their resources and supplies will help those in the path of Hurricane Dolly.

East Texas Medical Center sent six ambulances, while the Salvation Army of Tyler drove vehicles loaded with an estimated $200,000 worth of resources to aid potential disaster victims.

“We’ve (ETMC) been working with the statewide disaster preparedness committee for the past two and a half years, so we, as a state, are better prepared to respond to statewide disasters. Whether it’s hurricanes, tornadoes or chemical warfare, it’s all an effort to serve the state of Texas and to be better prepared,” said Ron Schwartz, ETMC director of operations.

Schwartz said the Texas Department of State Health Services sent an e-mail Monday requesting ambulances to be in place at the designated staging area in San Antonio. Once there, they will be able react within minutes to locations within the damage path.

He said, if called upon, the fleet is scheduled to work with other ambulance companies for four-day trips to evacuate hospitals, nursing homes and other buildings.

Schwartz said a committee has been working on this plan since the devastating effects of hurricanes Rita and Katrina and have stockpiled fuel and oxygen for such catastrophes.

“Hopefully we’ll get down there and we won’t be needed, but at least we are being proactive verses reactive,” Schwartz said.

Members of the Salvation Army of Tyler began their journey Tuesday afternoon driving their Canteen, a mobile commercial kitchen, and two other vehicles carrying supplies to a disaster staging camp in McAllen.

“There will be Salvation Armies from all over Texas that will be there ready to help those people and serve those people that are in need,” Capt. Zack Bell said. “Our job is just to share hope to those, who for whatever reason, might have lost it.”

Bell said four crew members left on the organization’s first relief deployment and are scheduled to aid citizens on location in 72-hour shifts.

“In a sense, we go down there representing the city of Tyler,” Bell said. “This is the city of Tyler responding to this.”

He said the team should be located within a central region of the projected hurricane path and able to support victims immediately. Depending on the amount of damage, organizers plan to deploy additional supplies and volunteers.

“We go down there praying still that nothing happens, our prayer is that the storm continues to turn or something else,” Bell said. “But if it does (hit Texas), we are there to be of service to those people.”

For more information regarding the Salvation Army, call 903-592-4361.

East Texas Medical Center EMT Les Stap makes final modifications to the medical equipment in the back of one of the six ETMC ambulances that is heading to San Antonio.
((Staff Photo By Tom Turner))