August 25, 2017
EMS personnel and vehicles across Priority Ambulance’s Southeast footprint were activated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Friday to assist in the evacuation of patients from medical facilities in Texas in advance of Hurricane Harvey and assist following the natural disaster.
“In emergency situations, quick response and teamwork is critical,” said Priority Ambulance CEO Bryan Gibson. “In preparation for Hurricane Harvey, our teams across the country have stepped to provide vehicles, medical personnel and other resources to assist our neighbors in Texas with the evacuation of local medical facilities. We will support these communities as long as our resources are needed and assist with treating hurricane victims and returning relocated patients home when the danger has passed.”
Medshore Ambulance Service based in Anderson, South Carolina, has deployed more than 20 employees, as well as 10 ambulances to Texas, including eight advanced life support vehicles and two bariatric units. The vehicles left Anderson at 11 a.m. on Friday to make the 23-hour journey to San Antonio where they will be based at the command center. Medshore Ambulance Service Chief Compliance Officer and Disaster Response Team Leader Don McCown will be located at the command center at Randolph Air Force Base near San Antonio to assist in the resource mobilization, allocation and deployment.
Additional resources are also being committed from Central EMS in Central Georgia for the hurricane response. Four ambulance and eight EMS personnel left from Roswell, Georgia, this afternoon to assist in the evacuation.
All emergency personnel are trained and experienced in emergency evacuations and have completed coursework on operating within the incident command system through FEMA. The services anticipate to support the emergency event with vehicles and personnel for 10 to 14 days following Hurricane Harvey making landfall.
Medshore Ambulance Service and Central EMS’ strike teams are some of the most knowledgeable in the county with direct experience in evacuating thousands of patients and treating community members in Hurricanes Andrew, Floyd, Ivan, Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike, and Irene. Medshore’s strike team was one of only four teams selected to provide coverage at the 2009 Presidential Inauguration.
About Priority Ambulance
Based in Knoxville, Tenn., Priority Ambulance provides the highest level of clinical excellence in emergency and nonemergency medical care to the communities it serves. Throughout its national service area, approximately 2,000 highly trained paramedics and EMTs staff a fleet of approximately 400 state-of-the-art vehicles with the latest medical equipment and technology.
Priority Ambulance’s community of companies operates under trusted local brands providing medical transport options in nine states. The Priority Ambulance company partners include Shoals Ambulance in Alabama; Maricopa Ambulance in Arizona; Puckett EMS in Georgia and Southeast Tennessee; Central EMS in Georgia; Seals Ambulance in Indiana; Kunkel Ambulance in Upstate New York; Trans Am Ambulance in western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania; Medshore Ambulance in South Carolina; and Priority Ambulance in East Tennessee. Priority Ambulance also serves Baptist Memorial Health Care facilities in West Tennessee and Mississippi under the Baptist brand.
For more information, visit ww.priorityambulance.com. Individuals interested in joining Priority Ambulance should visit www.priorityambulance.com/employment.