Disaster medical team went to help hurricane victims

BY MICHAEL BOOTH

GAZETTE-TIMES REPORTER

Three Benton County members of the Oregon Disaster Medical Assistance Team have moved from east Texas to southern Louisiana to help victims of Hurricane Gustav.

Peggy Peirson, Benton County emergency services coordinator, said she and her team's medical convoy traveled through Thursday night to get to Baton Rouge, La., to receive new orders.

Team members traveled from East Texas Baptist University in Marshal, Texas, about 30 miles west of Shreveport, La., where they had been treating evacuees since Aug. 29.

On Friday afternoon, Peirson said they were headed south to the small town of Houma, La., which Gustav hit particularly hard.

"Their hospital, where their (emergency room) was treating 125 to 150 people before the storm hit, has completely shut down," Peirson said. Residents are without power, food and water.

Peirson said her team will be setting up a makeshift hospital from tents and equipment they are carrying with them.

Local people are still evacuating the area as Peirson's group is going in.

"It's a little strange to see everyone streaming out as we're headed in the other direction," Peirson said. "But, this is what we do."

Peirson is the logistics coordinator, organizing personnel and supplies. Joining her from Benton County are Marcia Gilson, a Philomath paramedic, and Dan Kearl, a Hewlett-Packard engineer who will handle emergency communications. Teams travel in 35-member packs and are primarily made up of medical professionals.

Normally, teams are relieved by another team after two weeks. But, Peirson said, the group has already been asked to stay longer.

As of Friday afternoon, Gustav had been downgraded to a tropical depression with 35-mph winds. After hitting land in Louisiana, it traveled through portions of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.