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| Paramedic Bennie L. French III, standing 2 ½ blocks away from his home in front of the Henderson Point Volunteer Fire Department, where the mailbox for his house was found. |
Home for the holidays has a different meaning for some Gulf Coast EMS providers this year.
Paramedic Bennie L. French III, community and governmental relations supervisor for Acadian Ambulance, is one such provider. Hurricane Katrina took his family’s home in Pass Christian, Mississippi, and left them with just a bare slab.
“You cannot find anything salvageable from my home,” French said in a telephone interview. He added that his four children lost all their toys and the family lost one vehicle in addition to their home. French also lost some paramedical equipment along with his workshop, in which he had antique tools that his grandfather had used in addition to some tools his father had handed down to him.
Prior to the storm making landfall, French was helping evacuate hospitals and nursing homes in Jackson County, Mississippi, and St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. His wife and their four children joined him in a hotel in Jackson County to ride out the storm. They packed three suitcases for the five family members because they anticipated that they would go home after the storm, clean up any water damage and go on with their lives.
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| The French home after Katrina |
As he made his way back to Pass Christian after the storm, French was not prepared for the devastation that awaited him and other residents of the small community.
“As I looked down the beach, I knew this was much, much worse” than Hurricane Camille, which had been the benchmark for Gulf Coast hurricanes and which French lived through as a teenager. “The devastation was incomprehensible compared to Camille.”
French estimated that 98 to 99 percent of the homes in his community were destroyed, either by the storm’s winds or by the surge that followed. He and his neighbors face a long, drawn-out claims process with their insurance companies because the insurance companies are trying to determine which force of nature took the homes—wind or water.
French and his family spent several months living in a trailer provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In mid-November, the family moved to a new home in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, with the eventual plan of returning to Pass Christian once the community is rebuilt.
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| French's youngest son Logan after viewing the loss of the family's home. |
Keeping Busy
Immediately after Katrina hit, French and his fellow Acadian employees were re-establishing ambulance communications within Jackson County and assisting their fellow citizens.
“Our company flew in food, water, satellite phones and supplies to us for the first week or so,” said French. “It was ‘adapt, overcome and improvise’ much like everybody in EMS does.”
Two days after the storm, a team from South Florida arrived in Pascagoula, Mississippi, to provide relief to the ambulance crews there, many of whom lost everything they owned.
“They came into town with approximately 20 ambulances, support vehicles and fuel trucks, and they wanted to start working right that minute,” said French. He briefed them on the situation and told them that he and his co-workers and their families had never dealt with an event like Katrina, even though he has been a paramedic for more than 20 years.
“Those guys immediately starting taking over our operations so we could take a well-needed break,” said French. “They are in my prayers and will always be in my heart.”
French also commended the work of other crews from Florida, Colorado and Mississippi who provided relief in Jackson County. When the ambulance crews weren’t covering a shift, they were often out in the field, providing humanitarian relief by bringing supplies to people who needed them.
“The support from around the United States and from other countries has been heartwarming,” he said.
Fund-raising Campaign
The EMS & Rescuer Relief Fund has set up a special holiday fund-raising campaign to help EMTs and paramedics whose lives have been affected by the hurricanes. The fund is seeking donations from individuals, organizations and businesses. It will distribute money this holiday season to EMS workers in need.
The EMS & Rescuer Relief Fund is administered by the NAEMT Foundation, a nonprofit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Fund was established after 9-11 and disseminated $107,553 to the families of the EMS workers who died responding to the terrorist attacks.
Consider making a donation to the EMS & Rescuer Relief Fund this holiday season. Credit card donations can be made online. Donations may also be made by phone at (800) 346-2368. Donations can also be mailed to NAEMT Foundation EMS & Rescuer Relief Fund, P.O. Box 1400, Clinton, MS 39060-1400.