Acadian EMS Need 200 Temporary EMS Workers In NO

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Ambulance Company Puts Out Call For Up To 200 Temporary Workers in Louisiana

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) -- Its crews scattered and the need for ambulances driven up by Hurricane Katrina, the emergency medical company that covers most of southern Louisiana put out a call Wednesday for 200 temporary workers.

Acadian Ambulance Service Inc. is getting 100 more calls a day than it did before the storm, and must delay some responses 12 to 24 hours so life-threatening emergencies can be dealt with immediately, said Richard Zuschlag, the company's president.

Many employees who lived in southeast Louisiana have moved to other states, he said.

Traffic jams, especially in Baton Rouge, where the population doubled overnight, are causing other problems. Helicopters are making trips that ordinarily would use ambulances, Zuschlag said.

He said Acadian would hire nurses, paramedics and emergency medical technicians for 30 to 90 days.

The call went out as Hurricane Rita made it possible that crews would need to evacuate nursing homes in the southwest half of the state.

''That's a completely separate matter,'' Zuschlag said.

Edited September 22, 2005 by x635