After Helene, clinician teams brought critical care to isolated WNC communities

After Helene, clinician teams brought critical care to isolated WNC communities 
NC Health News; by Jaymie Baxley; 11/25/24 
After the remnants of Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on western North Carolina’s health care infrastructure, the N.C. Office of Emergency Medical Services deployed nine multidisciplinary teams of clinicians to waterlogged communities where residents were cut off from providers. It was a complex undertaking that required the state to set up mobile treatment centers, medical support shelters and pop-up emergency departments in places with limited — or no — access to clean water and electricity. One team was forced to take a long detour through Tennessee just to reach the flooded county it had been assigned to. Kimberly Clement, manager of NCEMS’ Healthcare Preparedness Program, said more than 1,000 patients were treated across the federally declared disaster area for issues ranging from respiratory illness to injuries suffered while clearing debris from their storm-battered homes. Some of the visiting clinicians stayed for nearly two months, leaving only after the situation had improved enough for local emergency agencies to resume regular operations. The state recently deactivated its last medical unit in western North Carolina, a mobile clinic in McDowell County that stayed open for seven weeks after Helene blew through. Clement described the site’s closure as a milestone in the region’s long road to recovery. ... NCEMS has responded to multiple hurricanes through the years, but Clement said Helene was “very different and very extreme.”