Lifesaving Service in the Aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina

After Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, crews for one of Sacred Heart Health System’s AIRHeart helicopters flew for four days into New Orleans to assist Tulane University Medical Center in an evacuation of patients and staff. AIRHeart crews transported patients from the top of a parking garage next to the embattled New Orleans hospital to Pensacola and to Lafayette, La.

Below are four articles written by four of the crew members who participated in this extraordinary evacuation in a city crippled by a catastrophic storm. We are proud of the dedication and compassion of our “AIRHeart Angels.” In an environment of chaos and destruction, they risked their lives in service to our neighbors to the west.

A Privilege to Serve
by Tim Keohane, RN, EMT-P
Flight Nurse, AIRHeart

I was privileged to be a member of the AIRHeart team responding to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. I know that everyone at AIRHeart wanted to participate. Those who were not assigned to Louisiana should be commended for performing double duty meeting the ongoing emergency needs of the Panhandle.

It was a humbling and life-changing experience for me. Our mission: To fly supplies to Tulane Medical Center in downtown New Orleans and fly patients out to other hospitals. As we flew across the Mississippi coast the day after the storm, we were awed by the devastation. I personally have never seen such destruction. Flying into New Orleans, we observed people with signs begging for help. They were trapped on bridges, highways and rooftops. Hundreds of cargo containers from ocean-going freighters were floating in neighborhoods.

Landing on the rooftop of Tulane's parking garage was as challenging as anything our pilot had ever seen in combat. Air traffic control was virtually non-existent with dozens of helicopters circling through the buildings waiting for an opportunity to land.
Emotional scenes were taking place on that rooftop. A baby with 2 chest tubes was being kissed goodbye by her parents as she was being loaded aboard a helicopter. There was no room for Mom and Dad, and they didn't know when they would be able to leave the flooded building to reunite with their child. Elderly patients who had never flown were asking to hold our hand in flight because they were scared.
Power was out and the generators no longer worked at the hospital. For days, doctors, nurses, environmental staffers and administrators carried patients through darkened halls and upstairs to the roof. Their patients were their priority. They watched until each helicopter departed and then returned for the next patient. They were tireless.

Most of the staff had been there for days and did not know the fate of their own homes or families. Looking into their eyes, you could see they were fighting back tears as they accepted the reality of their situation. Each time we landed, someone would ask us what their particular part of town looked like from the air. Our answer was rarely a good one. Still, they managed to share hugs, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, warm water and, yes, laughs with us.

It was a most humbling experience for me. An experience I will never forget. I would like to thank Sacred Heart Health System for allowing me to participate in this mission and for their support for the victims of this disaster. I was proud to have our aircraft there. I would also like to thank everyone in the Sacred Heart family for their prayers.

Sweet Spirit of People is Unforgettable
by Karen Tayes,RN
Flight Nurse

My experience on our New Orleans mission was like none other that I had ever experienced in all my EMS and ER days. We left on Thursday morning and refueled in Mobile. We ran into several other flight crews who informed us of our destination and what to expect. We set off, and although we had been watching coverage of the storm on TV, nothing could prepare us for what we were about to see.

Once we entered New Orleans it looked unreal -- the wind damage to buildings, the water damage to the rooftops, and the smell. We were told we would be landing on the top of a parking garage (8 stories high) in the middle of several buildings over twice its size. We would circle to see if there was a place for us to land, and then look all around for another aircraft that may be landing. Once everything looked good we would bring it in, and if someone was available they would land us. There would be three to four helicopters on the roof at the time. We never knew what kinds of patients we were getting.

Shortly after we landed, the nurses would push a patient up from the 7th floor and we would load them as other aircraft were landing and taking off just a few feet from us. (Patients were kept on the 7th floor all night.) These patients had no charts, no belongings; only the wristbands with their names and birthdates. We would lift off and try to find a hospital from a list we had to take the patient to. One patient we picked up was a charity patient who was taped to an ironing board. (Don't ask me how they got him to the garage!) He was intubated and taped to his leg were nurses’ notes written on small notebook paper. We had him 2 -1/2 hours before we could find a place for him to go.

Although the news showed the ugly side of people, that was not at all what we encountered. I was amazed by everyone’s sweet spirit -- like the families that stood for hours on the fire escape of a hotel just in front of the garage we landed on. With each aircraft that lifted off, they gave a smile and a wave. (They were there for six days.) The nurses always met us with a smile and sometimes a joke. They had cut their scrubs to make shorts and some would have us sign their clothes.

Each hospital we landed at gave us more than enough help and greeted us with cold drinks and very friendly people. While we took the patients inside, they filled our aircraft with supplies to take back to Tulane. Everyone went beyond the call of duty. We came across evacuees who were staying at the hospitals to volunteer their time. Our days were hot, there were not enough cold drinks, and no restrooms. It was a hard job for eight hours and these people were going on their sixth and seventh days!
We spent a lot of time on the north side of the New Orleans airport because refueling would take up to 2 -1/2 hours. Hundreds of aircraft would be waiting at a time. Everyone shared whatever supplies, food and drinks they had. On the south side of the airport was a triage area where the military and other aircraft were moving patients from the hospitals six to 100 people at a time. Two lines of about 50 aircraft would be waiting to drop off their patients. The ground EMS crews were moving the critical patients first while buses transported the people who could walk. They had begun tagging patients with triage tags but they fought over them and were taking the critical patients’ tags. They then wrote on their forearms with sharpie markers. (It was a crazy area). By the sixth day there were two lines of aircraft taking patients out.

We stayed at the airport in Lafayette LA where the main office of Acadian EMS is located. Words cannot express my gratitude for these people. From the administrators to the Paramedics, everyone was awesome. They gave us a comfortable place to stay. They opened up their homes and washed our clothes. People from the community brought us all kinds of good food. About 17 different services were staying there. They were there for us!!!

It was such a blessing to have such an opportunity like this. Someone made the statement that we could only move two patients at a time. Were we really making that much of a difference? My answer is “yes, we did.” We made a huge difference in each person we transported. They made a huge difference in our lives. This experience made us better people and better EMS workers.

Katrina: Three Disasters in One
by David Dunlap
Flight Paramedic, AIRHeart

My crew and I flew toward New Orleans for our assigned duty of assisting with the evacuation of Tulane University Hospital. We arrived over Biloxi, Miss., and, as was my previous experience with Hurricane Andrew, I saw sheer and utter destruction. From Biloxi through Gulfport, Waveland, Pass Christian, Bay St. Louis and over to New Orleans, the picture was the same.

Unlike other similar events I have worked, this one was different. I remember thinking we have three disasters rolled into one. The first disaster: The profound power of the wind and waves that devastated mile after mile of the Gulf Coast; second, the flooding of the city of New Orleans; and third, the thousands of stranded people left in the wake of the storm.

The environment was hostile, in that while we were in a major city, the infrastructure was gone. No power, no ice, unusable running water, and food was scarce. The air around the city was full of helicopters, with no air traffic control. It probably was the most dangerous flying I would ever do. I realized this only after we completed our mission. The faces of those we encountered were both full of gladness to see us and an uneasy realization of knowing they were in trouble.

As we conducted our duty I realized the magnitude of need. We shuttled supplies in and patients out. I thought what an honor it is to be here -- to bring the essence of what we do to this place and these victims.

I would like to thank our Administration for committing AIRHeart to this endeavor as there was a definite need for our service. I am humbled to have been a part of the evacuation and honored to work for such an awesome organization -- Sacred Heart Health System.

Road to Success Paved with Service
by Chuck Jeter
Paramedic, AIRHeart

Our mission began on Tuesday, Aug. 30, with Flight Nurse Tim Keohane, Flight Paramedic Dave Dunlap and Pilot Dan McDonald making the trip to New Orleans to evacuate patients. They provided the rest of us with great information regarding who to who to coordinate with and where to go. Specifically, they told us to be very careful as there were many air medical services in the area with the same mission.
On Thursday, September 1, our crew consisting of Flight Nurse Karen Tayes, Pilot Chuck Lancaster and I left AIRHeart-2 base in Marianna for the New Orleans area with instructions to assist in the evacuation of patients and staff from Tulane University Medical Center. Even though I was with the Army National Guard and was deployed to assist with Hurricane Andrew, I did not expect to see the amount of not only property damage due to the flooding, but also how the whole of New Orleans was crippled.

We stopped in Mobile to refuel and were greeted there by a couple of other air medical crews also on their way over. Some of these crews had been there during the first days and, again, we were provided with excellent information. It also was great to see all of the other medical crews coming together to assist others in a selfless and very enthusiastic manner. This excited us even more and we could hardly wait to get there to start our mission.

As we left Mobile, it didn't take long before we started to see the effects of Katrina along the Gulf Coast and the overwhelming amount of destruction. As I am sure you saw in the media the amount of destruction, it is hard to really comprehend. Seeing it firsthand it was very surreal, like something you would see in a movie, but these were real people just like you and me. Had that storm moved a little east it could have been us as well. We began our trip crossing Lake Pontchartrain and saw that the Interstate 10 bridge was destroyed. As we arrived in the New Orleans area, it seemed that the whole north and east side of the city was under water. We continued on and found our landing zone, a parking deck adjacent to Tulane Medical Center. We had to wait in line to land as there were many helicopters in the area and on the deck that were picking up as many patients as they could as quickly as possible.

Upon landing at Tulane, we were greeted by several weary and obviously tattered medical staff there with one elderly gentleman patient and his wife. There was not enough time for a thorough and detailed patient report as there were other helicopters waiting for our spot, so we packaged them as quickly as possible with instructions to take them to a hospital in New Iberia, La. They were so thankful and relieved that we were there. When asked about their needs, they were only concerned for their patients, thanked us again, and sent us on our way with God's blessings.

We arrived at our receiving hospital and met by another grateful staff who extended an amount of hospitality greater than I had ever experienced. We gave them the best patient report that we could, along with demographic information, and transferred our patient’s care to the staff. Next, we were offered a sack lunch prepared by the hospital, and then loaded the helicopter with as much food and water for the staff as weight restrictions would allow. We relocated to the airport in New Iberia for fuel. Again, we were greeted with hospitality and much thanks. For a brief time, we weren't able to leave immediately due to local storms. We decided to eat at the airport since we wanted to save our sack lunches for later in case we weren’t able to stop. As I began to pay for the, the airport manager told me to put my money away. He said that lunch was on him as he was honored to have us there and it was his way of thanking us.

As the weather cleared, we made our way back to Tulane. Again, there was a lot of helicopter traffic and we waited our turn to land. Upon landing, again we were met by the same staff who provided a more detailed report on this patient, an ICU patient who had suffered a stroke and was very sick. The report showed that he had fallen and was found in an unresponsive state. Tulane needed to secure his cervical spine with a collar and also his back to a spine board. They did not have a spine board at the hospital as that is equipment that is normally carried on an ambulance, so they improvised using an ironing board to secure this patient. It amazed me that throughout this ordeal that they were creative enough to come up with this idea and provide the best care possible for this patient. We left again with many thanks and blessings for Baton Rouge.

Upon arrival in Baton Rouge, we gave report, transferred our patient and again loaded up with as much supplies as we could for the staff at Tulane. Unfortunately, this would be our last trip for the day as there were flight restrictions for civilian aircraft at night and we left for Lafayette, La., the base for Metro Aviation and Acadian Ambulance. Metro and Acadian were again very hospitable, offering us quarters to sleep, showers and food, to which we were very grateful. Metro took excellent care of our helicopter, addressing every maintenance issue without question and provided us with all of the help we needed to operate in the New Orleans area legally and safely. The FAA had established a restricted area that extended in a 30-mile radius of New Orleans and all aircraft operating in that area had to have special identifier codes for their aircraft. Each morning Metro had crew briefings to which they provided radio frequencies to use as well as the identifier codes for each aircraft.

Day 2: We left Lafayette for New Orleans and were told that there were still patients to evacuate. On arrival to Tulane, we did not notice any patients upon landing, but did notice the staff of Tulane and also the New Orleans SWAT team. We landed and shut down, approached the Tulane staff to find out how we could help them. Just prior to our arrival, they had just evacuated the last of the patients and they informed us that the SWAT team needed transportation to another location. We soon realized that we could only take two at a time and asked the team how far they needed to go. They informed us that it would take about 15 minutes to fly there. We made the decision that I would stay at Tulane so they could carry one more team member, and that Karen and Chuck would transport them to the other location. Karen and I would swap out each trip until the SWAT team members were all where they needed to be. Well, they took off to take the SWAT team and I stayed back to help the staff with whatever I could. They stated that they were just waiting for the SWAT team to go and that after that they would begin their evacuation to another hospital.

Soon after Chuck and Karen left, an Army Chinook helicopter came in and was able to carry the rest of the SWAT team to their destination, leaving me and the staff. As other helicopters came in, I assisted landing the helicopters on the parking deck and also assisted in loading staff onto the helicopters. As each helicopter arrived, each brought supplies, which we also unloaded. After all of the staff had left, a civilian police helicopter landed to which I told them that there were no more people to evacuate and I would be leaving as soon as my helicopter returned from their mission. The pilot said that he was going to leave his partner (who was also an officer) with me and that his instructions were to return with an eight-man security detail. So this left me, the civilian officer and a U.S. Marine who was left for security the night before. As time passed, there were several other helicopters that landed with supplies stating that this landing zone was going to be used by other hospitals in the area for evacuation, but had to first get their patients there and that was why all the supplies and personnel were on the way. After a few hours the civilian police helicopter returned and stated that he did not get the security detail and the he would be taking his officer back with him. The officer that stayed back asked me if I needed a ride as they were returning to Lafayette. During this whole time that Karen and Chuck had gone I was unable to contact them as the cell phones did not work in the city, so instead of staying there by myself, I rode back to Lafayette with the police.

While en route, I received a notification on my cell phone that I had a voice mail message. listened to it, and it was Monica Diaz from AirHeart 3 base needing me to return her call ASAP. I did to find out that Karen and Chuck had gotten stuck at the New Orleans airport trying to get fuel and then a temporary flight restriction had been placed due to President Bush arriving. I told Monica that I was fine and was heading back to Lafayette to let Karen know to meet me there. They returned safely to Lafayette and that ended Day 2.

Day 3: We originally planned on heading back to Marianna in the morning, but Acadian Ambulance requested that we stay as there were hundreds of patients to evacuate from the triage that was set up at New Orleans airport by the military. We left for the airport, arrived to start the longest line of helicopters for patient evacuation that I had ever seen. Each helicopter would either land and ground taxi to the pickup area if they had wheels for landing gear, or, like us, would hover in line to pick up our patients. As the ambulances pulled up to the tarmac, EMS crews and flight crews would pick up, load, and fly away to receiving hospitals throughout the state. We picked our patient up and left for Bunkie, La. We transported our patient without change in her condition to the hospital. Upon completion of this mission we agreed to refuel in Lafayette and load up to return home. On the trip home, we carried as much water, food and other supplies as we could to the devastated area.

I am very thankful that Sacred Heart not only allowed me to be a part of this, but am very happy that Sacred Heart so willingly helped these people in need. I have never been so humbled by the hospitality and thankfulness that we received and through this experience I have to agree with a statement I heard recently in church: that the road to success is paved with service. Again, I am very thankful for the opportunity and I hope that if we ever need help from the people of Louisiana, we could be so thankful.