DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — After hurricanes hit, Dekalb County depot helped provide people and supplies to the front line.
Paramedic Evan Altschuler is packing up, and he does not know when he will be home again.
Altshuler is the latest of about 300 American Medical Response DeKalb (AMR) paramedics to depart the DeKalb County depot, which has sent people to Florida and the Carolinas.
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“We got our trusty ambulance here. We check our supplies to make sure we have whatever we need,” Altshuler said.
AMR has contracts with FEMA and hospital networks to provide help during disasters like Hurricane Milton.
According to GMR’s (AMR’s parent company) Regional Director Edward Powers, the company has deployed 750 ambulances, 12 helicopters, and 1,500 people throughout the Southeast region.
“In North Carolina, it’s been running back up 911 and posting with search and rescue crews. Here in Florida, it’s been mostly hospital evacuations,” Powers said.
Powers spoke with Channel 2′s Michael Doudna from Tampa Bay, where he was helping evacuate patients from area hospitals that had lost their utilities.
Many of the 1,500 employees have worked 12-hour shifts since Hurricane Helene hit two weeks ago.
However, as time has gone on, the demand from the Dekalb County depot has shifted from providing manpower to providing supplies.
“It’s a continuous project every single day,” Operations Chief Lance Hester said.
The depot is stocked with medical supplies, food, and water year-round, while employees keep the nearly 100 ambulances housed there in working shape.
All the year-round work is so the resources can be deployed as soon as they are needed.
AMR says this is the largest deployment they have ever had since they got the contract with FEMA, shortly after Hurricane Katrina.
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