AAA Ambulance Service On 'Full Disaster Alert' Status
Within minutes of hearing the “dam failure” distress call about noon on March 12, AAA Ambulance Service went to “full disaster alert” status.
AAA Ambulance Service dispatchers learned first of the 1,100-acre Big Bay Lake earthen dam. They knew thousands of their Southwest Lamar County and Marion County constituents could be in danger.
By 12:02 pm, Chief Executive Officer Wade N. Spruill, Jr., instructed Rescue 7 to fly over the area for its first search for people in trouble. Southeast Mississippi Air Ambulance District’s state-of-the-art helicopter ambulance would make four more flights with Spruill and local political and safety leaders to look for flood victims and assess damage .
Within an hour, Mississippi’s first and longest continuously operating emergency medical services provider had a fully-equipped ambulance and crew at the on-scene command center. Shortly after, AAA’s Special Emergency Response Vehicle (SERV) and its mobile triage and treatment trailer also arrived at the crisis command center.
Before 2 pm, another ambulance unit staffed with an EMT-Paramedic and three EMT-Basics reached the Big Bay Crisis Command Center. The unit’s mission was to rove, searching for stranded pedestrians, motorists, and any residents they might reach.
AAA Ambulance Service’s logistics coordinator took care of crisis command center workers, delivering bottled water, soft drinks, assorted snacks, and ample ice.
AAA staff remained in place into the night, with the logistics coordinator and on-duty field supervisor not leaving until after 1 am – some 13 hours after the disaster began.
Just five hours later – by 6 am on March 13 – AAA Ambulance Service Unit 194 arrived at the command center. Using the SERV unit, they resumed the search and rescue mission.
AAA Ambulance Service on-site and backup staff worked through the end of the acute crisis and then returned to their respective home bases. The SERV unit had transported county and state officials to assess damage and roadways; the crew helped return some residents to their homes. .
CEO Spruill praised the staff and reassured Southeast Mississippians: “AAA Ambulance Service claims a unique position in the emergency medical service industry through bringing together all the experience and discipline required to deliver the best pre-hospital emergency care throughout this entire region. Ground service to eight counties — Forrest, Jefferson Davis, Lamar, Marion, Pearl River, Perry, Stone, and Walthall — remains a stable, reliable, customer-oriented compact. We’re both proud and humbled that we can be here during a disaster of any magnitude and that we are ready to respond within minutes to any need for EMS.”
AAA Ambulance Service configures crews and fleet to meet EMS needs in each community-based operation. Monitoring and analyzing calls for ambulances and emergency medical services, response times, demographics, and the origin and destination for each patient enables AAA Ambulance Service to assign appropriate resources to each field site and to maintain adequate coverage for every community.
“We and our communities are blessed that this unfortunate event occurred mid-day so that early detection and having most people out of harm’s way resulted in no injury,” Spruill said. “Seeing vehicles from Rescue 7 upside down in tall trees and also identifying a helpless black-and-white pet Collie stranded on a trampoline emotionally touched us all.
“We are a business,” he said. “We also relish life. We are pleased that no human injury or death resulted from this disaster. We remain concerned for everyone in our coverage area, especially those who lost their homes and irreplaceable possessions and look forward with them to their regaining normal lives.”
About AAA Ambulance Service: AAA Ambulance Service, founded in 1965, created one of the first licensed emergency medical services providers in Mississippi. The community, tax-supported nonprofit organization’s mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce trauma-related personal anguish and health care costs. For more information, visit http://www.aaaambulance.net.
Contact: Christy M. Joy
PO Box 17889
Hattiesburg, MS 39404
207 South. 28th Ave.
Hattiesburg, MS 39401
(601) 264-0175 SND.Email
