VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — When an emergency call came through for a man having a heart attack as the roaring wind and pouring rain of Hurricane Matthew buffeted Volusia County, most emergency vehicles would have never made it in time.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office was able to make it, though, and the victim got the medical attention he needed in time.
Emergency responders credited the VCSO's 18-ton MRAP for letting them make it through the storm.
“This guy, by all rights, should have been dead,” the VCSO said on its Facebook page. “They kept him alive in the back of that truck.”
MRAP in service for Hurricane Matthew"This guy, by all rights, should have been dead -- they kept him alive in the back of that truck." When the Sheriff's Office's MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected/Armored Personnel) carrier brought in a heart-attack patient during Hurricane Matthew, it was clear to the staff at the hospital that he was lucky to be alive. As the Category 3 storm hit Volusia County on Oct. 7 and forced the temporary suspension of ambulance service, the VCSO's heavy-duty surplus military vehicle went into action to save lives. The emergencies didn't stop just because a storm was threatening outside. The MRAP responded to several people who said in their 911 calls: -"I can't breathe...I keep passing out and coming back... I'm having a hard time talking." -"My husband, he's collapsed on the floor... He's breathing, but he's talking funny." -"I need an ambulance for my mom... She's sitting here, but she can't breathe properly." -"He fell, he's bleeding... There's blood everywhere, I don't really know where it's coming from." -"I have an 88-year-old aunt here who I think is having a major stroke." VCSO Deputy Eddie Hart, who was at the wheel of the MRAP, said the machine "did its job. It did exactly what we expect it to do in a crisis situation like that." "When the hurricane was running up the coast, we were in the New Smyrna Beach and Port Orange area," Hart said. "You could actually see stuff just swirling around, and that wind was coming right at us." Power lines fell across roads, and Hart often had to steer in reverse to make detours. A downed power line briefly delayed the MRAP on U.S. 1 as it transported the heart-attack patient to the hospital in Daytona Beach. Gusts topping 100 mph blew water through the seams of the doors, but the 18-ton MRAP "didn't sway at all," Hart said. The VCSO has two MRAPs, each purchased (one in 2014, one this year) for $2,000 through the federal surplus 1033 program, which transfers excess military equipment to local law enforcement agencies. The newest MRAP replaced a tracked M-113 armored personnel carrier that was recalled by the federal government last year. The video here is a view through the MRAP windshield during Hurricane Matthew. VCSO was proud to help EMS reach patients who needed them in this storm.
Posted by Volusia Sheriff's Office on Monday, October 17, 2016
Deputy Eddie Hart was behind the wheel of the massive vehicle, purchased as surplus from the federal government and originally designed for military use.
Hart had to dodge downed power lines and sometimes had to steer in reverse to get around debris.
“When the hurricane was running up the coast, we were in the New Smyrna Beach and Port Orange area,” he said. “You could actually see stuff just swirling around, that that wind was coming right at us.”
As emergency personnel took the heart attack victim, who was not named, to the hospital in Daytona Beach, winds were gusting in excess of 100 mph.
The MRAP, though, “didn’t sway at all,” Hart said.
The VCSO responded to several other 911 calls using the military vehicle during Hurricane Matthew, including a stroke patient and someone seriously injured in a fall.
MRAP is an abbreviation for: Mine Resistant Ambush Protected/Armored Personnel Carrier.
Cox Media Group
