Mysterious illness could have Katrina ties

[Lori Price CLG]

Mysterious illness could have Katrina ties

Pafford Ambulance Service EMT Greg Coleman watched the polluted water of a flooded New Orleans stain, rust and generally erode the metal slide action of his Glock handgun.

Now the toxic water is threatening his health, as well as other Ruston-area first-responders who answered medical and law enforcement calls for assistance after back-to-back hurricanes earlier this year that may have changed Louisiana’s Crescent City and other Gulf Coast parishes forever.

The paramedic recalls treating victims who trudged waist- and chest-deep through the overflow of Lake Ponchatrain with some of the same symptoms that now have him seeking medical help.

"I can’t clean (the gun) because a film residue keeps coming back," Coleman said. "And, if it did that to a metal gun that is nearly indestructible, I can’t imagine what it is doing to people."

<snip>

Lori Price

[ingac70]

1. My husband has a carry permit....

And insisted on carrying his pistol the last time we went to the beach. The salty air made it begin to rust.

While I'm sure that water had plenty of assorted nasties in it, police issue Glocks are not meant to be submerged in ANY water, let alone filthy water.

[CanuckAmok]

2. Why do EMTs carry handguns?

Is it just me, or isn't that just a trifle conflicted?

[Lex]

4. They are allowed to carry because

sometimes they rush into to help injured people and it turns out that the cops should've been called too (unstable situation with upset people or a domestic violence injury), or the medics arrived first, or that sort of thing.

[Thtwudbeme]

10. EMT's do not "rush into scenes"

and I know of no state right now that permits firearms on the ambulances.

Please name your source; I was a paramedic years ago...and wondering if I am wrong now.

[Corgigal]

11. Tell it

I worked at EMS in Charleston SC. They can't carry guns and if we get a bad call the local law enforcement listens to the call and they send in the cops, just for that reason.

Law enforcements job to make sure the scene is safe for the EMS workers. Unless in NO they had no cops showing up.

[lovuian]

3. That water was a cesspool and a Benzene pool

I bet thats one of the ingredients...

[barb162]

5. the water in Pontchartrain is fairly brackish so that

maybe explains it

[demnan]

6. I could care less about the Glock

but this is a healthy man who has lost 32 pounds from vomiting and stomach cramps and no one knows what he has.

It really is miraculous that a severe outbreak of cholera didn't occur in NO.

Did they test the guy for cholera, I wonder?

[pitohui]

7. there's no cholera here

there were plenty of tests and there was no cholera, just bad-intentioned shitstirrers spreading rumors and trying to frighten people away from their homes in the early days of the crisis, some people seemed heart-set on deliberately confusing chlorera (vibrio cholerae) w. vibrio vulnificus, of which there were a handful of cases -- you would ALWAYS expect a handful of v. vulnificus cases in august and you'd expect MORE cases when people were getting scraped by oyster shells in salt water

i feel bad for the guy, but the last time i was in vegas i got contact dermatitis (woo, scary, it's just an allergic reaction, ya'll), i wouldn't tell people not to go to vegas over it, i sure as hell wouldn't be trying to take away people's heart and strength from the rebuilding process in new orleans

the overwhelming majority of returnees and rescuee personal are perfectly healthy, hell, my rash went away immediately when i came back here from my trip

I'm sorry the dude is ill but i doubt katrina or his admirable rescue work had anything to do w. it, as he doesn't yet a diagnosis, it sounds like he is just reaching for the most dramatic event in his life which happened to occur before he fell ill and blaming it on that, understandable, sure, worth panicking over, no

just because a comes before b in the alphabet, you can't conclude that a caused b

elementary logic, anyone?

[gratuitous]

8. Also keep in mind

That nobody knows what-all was in the water that inundated New Orleans. People didn't stop to make sure all their household cleaning solvents were properly capped or stoppered before they evacuated. Cars full of all sorts of chemical fluids -- gasoline, wiper fluid, transmission fluid and more -- were submerged and contributed all sorts of ingredients to the soup. Businesses that were underwater gave up toners, solvents, thinners, thickeners, and other stuff to the brew. Put in some human waste from the people stranded in the city, and you've got a real toxic cauldron mixing and festering for days.

I don't know what could have been done to prepare for this before Katrina, but it should definitely go into the planning for future disasters.

[donsu]

9. kicking - to say the toxins in the water had no affect is not logical

this is an important subject that the bushmilhousegang wants to suppress