When University students Robert Schoen and Chris Girouard accepted student internships at the East Baton Rouge Emergency Medical Service, they expected to perform office tasks and safety presentations.
But after the arrival of Hurricane Katrina, they received a one-of-a-kind experience.
“All we really did [before the storm] was give safety presentations to daycares and elementary schools,” said Girouard, biological sciences senior. “Then, week two in the semester, we’re getting calls saying they need help at the PMAC. At one point, I saw a guy that got shot with a shotgun. When I took this job, I never thought I would see a sick person at all.”
Both students were kept busy during the week off from school. The morning after the storm hit, they were called into the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to help prepare the facility for the week ahead.
As the situation intensified and the PMAC was transformed into the largest acute-care field hospital in U.S. history, EMS workers were forced to compensate. Approximately 6,000 patients were cared for at the PMAC.
“Since the extent of this was greater than we imagined, we got not only special-needs patients, but general-population patients as well,” said EMS Public Education Officer Mark Olson.
EMS Events Coordinator Mike Chustz said this event forced his student workers to undertake tasks they had never performed before.
“[This crisis] was unlike anything we had seen before,” he said. “[Our student workers] were able to help us in unloading patients, which is obviously not part of our daily routine.”
Olson said unfounded rumors and communication problems made the task even more difficult.
Schoen said at one point, 10 buses full of patients arrived unexpectedly.
“There was a mad dash for wheelchairs and gurneys,” he said. “What we were expecting isn’t necessarily what we got. The reality is that the only thing that could do it justice would be to see it. It was extremely stressful.”
Olson said his student workers served as major aids in the medical effort.
“They fulfilled a lot of basic medical tasks that freed up trained professionals,” he said. “Everybody ended up doing everyone else’s job at some point. A lot of people put in 14- to 16-hour days.”
Girouard and Schoen said one of their responsibilities was to simply talk to patients and keep them company. Both said those conversations would be unforgettable.
“[One woman] was just crying,” Girouard said. “She didn’t know what she was going to do. She didn’t have any of her medical records and she was sick. She couldn’t really communicate. At the time, she didn’t know where her family was. I don’t know what happened to her. I hope everything worked out for her.”
Girouard said most of the patients had no idea how big the disaster really was.
“[Many] just thought maybe their neighborhood was underwater,” he said. “They didn’t know the whole city was underwater. Some of these people, they didn’t understand how big or how severe this disaster is.”
Both Girouard and Schoen said this was a life-changing experience, and both now plan to attend medical school after they graduate from the University.
“I had planned on going to dental school, but now I’m looking to medical school,” Girouard said. “These people didn’t need dentists. I’m thankful for all those [doctors] that were able to donate their time for this effort.”
Schoen said he has never been part of a more fulfilling experience.
“In times of devastation, it was great to see people so appreciative of what we were doing,” he said. “If anything, this experience has made me even more excited about going to medical school.”
Looking back on his experience, Girouard said this has changed how he thinks of the University, especially the PMAC.
“When I think of the PMAC and when I think of LSU, I think of all the sports that happen on that side of campus,” he said. “But that assembly center is nothing like it used to be. It has a nursing-home, antiseptic quality to it.”
Contact Mathew Sanders at [email protected]