A medical mission from Hawaii is on its way to the East Coast to help with the recovery from Hurricane Sandy. It's part of a federal deployment across the country for disaster response.
Weeks after the storm, New Yorkers they'll be helping are still in dire need of medical assistance.
The medical professionals don't know exactly what to expect as they begin their up to two week mission.
“We're not going to know until we get there,” said Honolulu EMS Chief Patty Dukes. “We arrive at JFK, and we report to the incident command center which is at Times Square, and from there we will know where we are going. So we're prepared for just about anything. We bring our sleeping bags and our mats in case we're sleeping on the floor."
Three Honolulu paramedics are among the Hawaii Disaster Medical Assistance Team, activated by FEMA for service on the East Coast. The team also includes dozens from hospitals and clinics around the islands.
“They're just like National Guard or military Reserve,” said Toby Clairmont, director of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii Emergency Services. “They work their regular day jobs, we train a couple times a year, and then we activate them, and when we activate them they become full federal employees and we deploy."
They'll likely be assisting in the hardest-hit part of New York City.
"Lower Manhattan right now, about 30% are without power,” Clairmont said. “There are hospitals that have been evacuated, there are many elderly stuck up in buildings, there are a lot of needs."
"What's happened is they've had 4 hospitals that have closed, and 4 very busy hospitals," Dukes said.
They'll work both in the remaining overcrowded hospitals and in mobile field units. The team says it's likely to be like nothing they've seen before, but may see again in the future.
"It gives me an idea of what a real disaster looks like," says North Shore paramedic Marc Moriguchi. “It's been awhile since Hawaii had that hurricane, so taking a look at a disaster on a scale of New York, it's a big scale; something to bring back home and share and help prepare and get ready for back home."
Updates about the group's experiences in New York will be posted via Twitter at @HAHemergency
