Deployed to Bahamas from Miami: ‘I have my hammock if the trees are still up’
Dr. Benjamin Abo boarded a ferry for Freeport, Bahamas, on Friday morning, uncertain where he and two dozen city and county paramedics from Miami would sleep that night. The plan was to camp somewhere in the devastation left by Hurricane Dorian.
“’I’m assuming we’ll sleep outside,” Abo said. “I have my hammock if the trees are still up.”
Left out of Washington’s official response to the worst hurricane to hit the Bahamas, the closest major city to the island nation is headed out on its own with a deployment approved by the Bahamian government. The Bahamian’s consul general in Miami, Linda Mackey, signed agreements with both Miami and Miami-Dade County to allow each government’s rescue teams to conduct operations in the Bahamas, city and county administrators said.
The result was a morning rollout at Port Everglades, aboard a jumbo ferry that is providing free seats and cargo space for the two Miami teams. Each government is sending around 15 people on the mission, with another 50 expected by Sunday.
“We’re not clear on what island we’re heading to,” said Lt. Jairo Rodriguez, head of the county’s rescue team. “But we’re headed to the Bahamas islands to do an initial assessment, and see what their needs are.”
Miami Fire Chief Joseph Zahralban is also on the mission. “When we first arrive in Freeport, we’ll liaison with the government and head out from there,” he said.
The Balearia shipping line donated seats for the rescue crews and turned over most of its cargo hold to relief supplies. That includes pallets of bottled water, diapers, snack food, motor oil, toilet paper and other necessities donated by
South Florida residents.
Miami-Dade’s Myles Kaplan boarded the ferry with a “life pack” slung over his shoulder — a device that includes a defibrillator and heart monitor. That’s in addition to the backpack with enough gear, clothing and dehydrated food to last 72 hours.
“It’s a three-day pack,” he said.
Abo said he expects the most common condition in need of medical attention to be dehydration, followed by broken bones. He’s a specialist in bare-bones treatment, a field called “austere disaster medicine.”
He said he’s traveling with stores of IV fluids, antibiotics and medications to treat a wide range of non-storm needs.
“People don’t get a break from medical problems just because a hurricane hits,” he said.