Noga Ambulance Service
2615 Wilmington Rd.
New Castle, PA 16105
Contact: Brian Shaw, Operations Manager, EMT-P
Day Phone: (724) 658-6677

NOGA AMBULANCE PERSONNEL RETURNS FROM HURRICANE RELIEF EFFORTS

New Castle, PA- On Saturday, October 1, the Noga Ambulance Service Strike Team deployed two paramedics and two emergency medical technicians to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to help with the ongoing relief efforts brought on by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and Rita. As part of a response team through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, (a.k.a. FEMA), Noga Ambulance personnel joined 19 additional Pennsylvania Ambulance Service Strike Teams to provide medical assistance and transportation to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The Strike Teams returned from Louisiana on Sunday, October 16, 2005.

Noga Ambulance Service is one of ten ambulance services in the Western Pennsylvania EMSI Region that has been designated as an Ambulance Service Strike Team able to respond to large-scale disasters or specialized incidents when requested by the Department of Health. Since January of 2004, Noga Ambulance had identified eight employees who received specialized training, vaccinations, and are able to deploy for any type of event within two hours of notification. The four Noga employees who made the trip were Paramedics Don Copper and Warren Hosack, and Emergency Medical Technicians Dean Adamo and Ernie Mallary. In addition, Noga Ambulance Service sent an ambulance fully stocked with medical supplies to assist in the relief efforts.

“It is an honor for Noga Ambulance to be a part of the relief efforts after the most devastating natural disaster in our modern time and I’m extremely proud of my co-workers who have answered this call, not only in the relief efforts in Louisiana but also the remaining 70 employees of Noga Ambulance who ensured that our operations at home would not be interrupted. The dedication of our employees was especially shown during the evening of October 4th as our employees responded in full to the fire at Lawrence Manor as they coordinated 33 ambulances for the evacuation of the residents,” said Brian Shaw, Operations Manager and Paramedic for Noga Ambulance Service.

The deployment was defined as a “Critical Care Interfacility Transport” mission. The Noga employees were deployed to the Emergency Operations Center at Jimmy Swaggert Ministries University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Here they received a briefing and were allowed to recover from the long drive from Pennsylvania. They were then deployed to different locations that could last from 24 hours to 72 hours.

Five of the Pennsylvania teams including the Noga Ambulance employees were deployed on a three day mission to the Cajun Dome in Lafayette, Louisiana. The Cajun Dome is serving as a housing area for 1,700 displaced residents of Louisiana with an additional 3,000 residents being housed in the attached convention center. The members of Noga Ambulance Service have been active throughout their shifts by assisting in the medical clinic, restocking the Red Cross supplies, and handling general requests from the Emergency Operations Center. In addition, they also provided medical treatment and transportation as needed. The hard working crews from Pennsylvania have been so well liked that Greg Davis, Emergency Coordinator of the Cajun Dome, called the Louisiana State Emergency Operations Center and asked to keep the Pennsylvania teams at the Cajun Dome for the remainder of their tour.

“We have been received so well here by everybody,” said Don Copper, Paramedic and Crew Chief for Noga Ambulance Service. Copper said the residents, Red Cross doctors and nurses, and the national guardsmen are so appreciative that people from other states came to help that they would go out of their way to express their gratitude. “It’s been a really great learning experience, and it is very fulfilling to be able to come down here and help out. The people of Lafayette have done everything they could do to make us comfortable. Lafayette is a great city and I plan on coming back some day,” concluded Copper.

The 19 strike teams from Pennsylvania have provided direct care to over 2000 patients and have completed over 200 ambulance transports since Tuesday, October 4, 2005, while under the under the direction of Incident Commander Ammos Cameron, from our local Emergency Medical Services Institute office. The Louisiana State Emergency Operations Center received so many compliments about the Pennsylvania Ambulance Service Strike Teams that they requested for them to stay another two weeks. However, at this time the 19 teams are preparing to return to Pennsylvania with an additional 20 Ambulance Service Strike Teams being deployed to continue the relief efforts. One of the Pennsylvania Ambulance Service Strike Teams provided life saving care to a small boy who was struck by a truck. Louisiana Governor, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, is to give special recognition to that Ambulance Service from Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania teams left Louisiana during the early hours of Saturday, October 15th. The convoy, which includes 26 emergency vehicles, arrived back in Pennsylvania during the evening of Sunday, October 16th. A welcoming reception was held in Washington, PA at the Beau Street Park and Ride lot located just off Interstates 70 and 79.