Acadian Ambulance Heroes Working Overtime

It is Sunday August 31, the day before Labor Day 2008. Hurricane Gustav (now Cat 3) is heading for the coast of Louisiana. Acadian Ambulance (our monitoring center) has activated their back up center, and are now monitoring from both Lafayette, LA and Houston, TX. Eight Acadian Monitoring center A Team members were dispatched to Houston yesterday. The monitoring locations are 242 miles apart. This sounded like a good plan when it was implemented post Katrina. However, no one knows exactly where the hurricane will go.

Acadian Ambulance is extremely well prepared. Their preparations were demonstrated, tested and refine since Katrina. They are the first responders for medical assistance for the most of Louisiana, Mississippi, and parts of Texas. For the past 60 hours they were busy evacuating 1000 people from hospitals, nursing homes, including babies from NICU units.
My concern has multiple levels. First, I'm concerned for all the people in the Gulf Coast. Katrina was three years ago. Many people have still not recovered. Second, I have friends at Acadian that I have worked with for years. I talk with Acadian every day. I spoke with my friend Blane Comeaux yesterday. He was packing his prized possesions from his house in his SUV. He lives in Abbeville, LA and the expected storm surge may take his home. Like other Acadian members, he somehow manages to put this aside, so he can take care of others. His wife, is busy working at the hospital, she is a nurse specializing in Neonatal pediatrics. My heart and prayers go out to all the Acadian team members (2700 strong) who are dedicated to protecting and saving the lives of the Gulf community. Last, I am concerned about the thousands of Pioneer Emergency clients. Acadians primary monitoring center should survive, it was built to withstand 170 mph winds. The building (which also houses the backup 911 center for the region) has dual redundant power lines from the city in two directions. Phone lines are dual path fiber optic lines. It has dual redundant UPS systems, and dual redundant generators. The computer systems between Houston and Lafayette mirror each other. There are cells phones and multiple 2 way radio systems for communication. Last Hurricane Acadian staffed 100 inbound phone lines throughout the emergency. Inc. magazine awarded the company runner up for Entrapeneur of the Year , and they were credited with saving 7000 lives during Katrina. In short, everything humanly and technologically possible is ready to go. The monitoring center also has a third backup plan with a disaster recovery center in Michigan...just in case. I'm still worried, and concerned. No one expected a storm of this magnitude. I'm praying for all my friends at Acadian, our clients and all the people in the affected area. My son Matthew just called me to inquire about the situation and our medical alert clients. I told him I am cautiously confident. Having multi-state resources has become essential. The Hurricane contingency plans are in place, they have been rehearsed and they are being methodically executed. Good Luck to everyone affected and may G-d Bless you.