Vermonters 'cowboy up' to Rita

Author: Rachel Durfee

In the wake of two of the most destructive hurricanes this nation has witnessed, a group of volunteers from the Vergennes Volunteer Rescue and Middlebury Ambulance squads recruited by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) responded to a nation-wide call for outside support.

Immediately following Hurricane Katrina's turbulent arrival in early September 2005, FEMA sent out a national volunteer list in order to bring medical help to devastated regions. Although Vergennes Volunteer Rescue team member and Middlebury graduate Jen Sisemoore '03.5 signed up without delay, neither she nor any of the Vergennes volunteers were deployed until a few weeks later, when Hurricane Rita plowed through coastal towns in Southeast Texas and Louisiana on Sept. 24.

Rita hit less populated towns and was therefore not as destructive as Katrina. Nonetheless, Rita still caused significant property damage, massive power outages and a large water shortage in Southeast Texas and up the Texas-Louisiana boarder. In response, FEMA sent out another national request for ambulances. Six hours later, Vergennes Rescue Squad members Ann Rivers and Brian Goodyear were on the road to Texas.

The two drove the Vergennes ambulance over 1800 miles to Houston, Texas where they met with hundreds of other volunteers from all over the country in the Reliant Center - a massive arena previously occupied by New Orleans refugees and currently serving as the FEMA staging center for all Rita relief operations. The volunteer organizations agreed to a 30-day agreement and Vergennes sent three deployments over the course of the one month period.

On Oct. 3, roughly two weeks after Rivers and Goodyear arrived in Houston, fellow Vermonters Sisemoore and Middlebury Ambulance volunteers Dave Fuller and Lisa Smith flew to Texas to join them. Rivers and Goodyear were involved primarily in emergency evacuations. But by the time Sisemoore, volunteers were most needed to deal with the medical needs of hurricane evacuees.

After meeting briefly with Rivers and Goodyear in Houston, Sisemoore, Fuller and Smith went directly to the rural town of Center, Texas - a town with a population of about 6,000 now serving as the gathering place for hundreds of displaced evacuees. With such a sudden population increase, Center was understaffed and unprepared to respond to the high number of emergency calls.

The Vergennes Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) spent five days alongside Texas EMTs and paramedics as well as volunteers from Mad River Valley, Vt. responding to 911 calls and dealing with various medical emergencies, similar their duties in New England. Sisemoore was impressed by the tireless efforts of her peers, especially the amount of support provided by native Texans. "The Texas EMTs were working so hard from day one; they had such a great attitude and were warm, friendly and wonderful," said Sisemoore.

Though overall it was a smooth transition from the North down to the South, Sisemore admits that moving from one rural setting to another caused a bit of culture shock. The constant presence of conspicuous poverty in certain affected areas, the isolation of Center and the unfamiliar sound of a Texas accent, especially the overwhelming use of "y'all", contributed to the sometimes uncomfortable feeling of culture shock a New Englander may experience on their first trip to "real rural Texas."

Unsure of what conditions would be like in Texas, family and friends had sent Sisemore off with a two-week supply of Power Bars. But food turned out to be the least of Sisemoore's worries, as locals treated volunteers to real Texan barbecue every night.

After five days in Center the Vergennes crew drove south to Beaumont's Ford Center hockey arena where FEMA, the Red Cross and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) volunteers were set up. Describing the scene, Sisemore said that "Cots were shoulder-to-shoulder and the parking lot outside was full of ambulances from all over the country. You definitely got to know the other volunteers."

Every morning volunteers gathered and received assignments for the day. Typical duties included helping nursing home patients who still needed to be evacuated and tending to hospital patients. Hospitals in Beaumont were forced to close due to power outages, leaving only the basic emergency rooms open. Thus volunteer units set up clinics to help treat those in need of medical attention and, if necessary, the volunteers would transport patients via ambulance to the closest working hospital, sometimes a six-hour drive from Beaumont.

The volunteers were professional and prepared and received support not only in Texas but back at home as well. The Vergennes group had three conference calls a day with the Vermont EMS office to report on conditions, logistics and address any needs or concerns. Overall, Sisemoore felt completely safe and well provided for in Beaumont. She believes that going to New Orleans for Katrina relief would probably have been a much more distressing experience and that the less calamitous consequences of Rita along with the positive attitudes she was surrounded with in Texas made the experience "really fun."

The cooperative nature of the relief effort was the most moving and encouraging aspect of Sisemoore's time in Texas. "It was really interesting working with paramedics from bigger cities." As an EMT, Sisemoore was not exposed to the greatest hardships - those of the people that had lost their homes and businesses - but says the damage was still very apparent. "It was strange," she said, "You would be walking along and see a normal house, normal house and then a house with the roof completely blown off."

After seeing Katrina on TV and in the paper, it was "surreal to see the damage [of Rita] first-hand." However her general impression was that people were working hard to get back on their feet, and in her capacity as an EMT Sisemoore felt that she had contributed to those efforts, though recognizes that there are still many issues to be dealt with that do not have to do with medicine.

Now back in Vermont, the Vergennes volunteers describe their trip as an overall positive experience with some very enjoyable moments. Sisemoore characterizes local citizens as "really appreciative," grinning as she sports a cap from a Texas refinery, a thank-you gift for her efforts with the company. "The best thing I came back with was a feeling of cooperation," she said. "Bringing in people from all over the country and having them work so well together." She added, "It was the people that made it a really good experience."