I read this from a friend of mine who was acting as a medic in New Orleans.
So glad Jenna Bush wasn't stuck in the 9th Ward in New Orleans.
What y'all have been seeing on the news is VERY sugar coated. Imagine the worst possible situation you can think of. Then, multiply it by 1 million times. You might be imagining close to what it is like there. It broke my heart to see my fellow emergency service brethren broken, tired and crying. These people will NEVER be able to work in this business again after this.
It is actually turning to anger with the way FEMA is handling this. We all heard the story about Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago offering 100 Medics and 10 Medic units to respond. FEMA(a Federal Agency) told him that they only wanted 1 Medic Unit and 6 Medics!!! I tell ya, there were a bunch of people ready to kill after they heard that. FEMA keeps saying "We have it under control" BULLSHIT!!!! People are dying on the overpasses of I-10 as I write this. Do you know what the people are doing when someone on the overpass dies??? They wrap the body in a sheet and throw it off the bridge. They are the lucky ones. They aren't suffering anymore.
These people will go to heaven immediately. They have already been thru something worse than hell. I talked to a former co-worker of mine. He came up and gave me a bear hug that lasted almost a minute. He was crying like a baby, and told he was so glad to see someone he knew. He is now scarred for life. He told me he was out cutting holes in roofs to find dead bodies in attics. He did that for 8 fucking hours. They only found 15 survivors. They have no relief. They get a few hours to relax, and they are back out there. It just tore my heart out.
Why the hell is FEMA not letting Emergency Workers that are chomping at the bit to go help, and let those people down there go home and relax????? FEMA should be letting EVERYONE that is trained come in and help. You can tell Bureaucrats run FEMA. REAL Emergency Planners know that you send the World, and if you don't need em, let them go home. It is easier to turn someone enroute around than trying to get people enroute when you need them.
Anyhow, I am done. I have images I will never forget etched in my brain forever.
Posted by debutaunt at September 3, 2005 04:30 PMThere must be a way to get this out to the media to pick up - they are so busy saying everything is "better". The world needs to hear the real story. Thank you for publishing it here.
Posted by: sally campbell at September 3, 2005 09:15 PM