Mardi Gras 2008 Sets New Orleans EMS Record
Mardi Gras 2008 will go down as the busiest ever for New Orleans EMS.
"We were in awe at the call volume. You could hardly talk on the radio. It was crazy," said Jeb Tate, a NO paramedic. "There's just no way to describe it."
It was a Carnival season NO EMS and police aren't likely to forget any time soon. Four people were murdered, and a dozen were wounded by gunshots.
One victim was killed after he was struck and became trapped under a float.
Revelers also were treated for a myriad of injuries suffered in falls, assaults or other incidents. Many also had their feet or legs run over or struck by floats.
Personnel didn't know what to expect, but their pre-plans were instrumental in keeping things in check, Tate said.
Two huge tents or temporary medical facilities were established to ease the already strapped hospitals. The state also paid for paramedics and other providers to accept patients transported to emergency departments.
Since Hurricane Katrina, ambulance crews delivering patients to a hospital are often delayed for hours because of ER staffing issues.
Tate said during Mardi Gras, crews were able to drop off a patient and transfer care to another medic stationed in city hospitals. "It worked well. We needed to get our crews back onto the street. There was no way we could wait."
The use of bikes and a John Deere gator worked well. Instead of trying to get a patient out of the crowd on a stretcher as in the past, the person was often loaded onto the gator and moved to an ambulance located outside the French Quarter, Tate said.
An after-action meeting will be held in the near future so personnel can critique the event.
A rundown of incidents includes: Friday, 116 calls, 76 transports; Saturday, 266, 152; Sunday, 236, 146; Monday, 211, 121; Tuesday, 292, 165. They also handled 43 calls with 24 transports from 12:01 a.m. through 6 a.m. Wednesday.
"We were hammered," Tate said, adding that the NO crews are more than ready for a well-deserved breather.
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