 A Week in the Life of Paul Fraser III [UPDATED 9/20]
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Sep. 3rd, 2005 @ 11:37 pm 
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What follows is a series of emails I received this week from my friend Paul Fraser whose son and family started out last week in New Orleans. I'll let the story tell itself. There are lots of heroes out there.
-rng
August 30, Tuesday
Hi all,
As most of you know, Paul and his family live in New Orleans. (Barbie and her family moved to VA two years ago.) As of Tuesday night, this is the up date.
Davina and Hunter evacuated with her mother, grandmother, aunt, and cousin to a motel in Tyler, TX. Paul stayed behind. He and his boss and partner were given rooms at the Tulane medical center. (Including elevated, protected parking for their ambulances and private cars.) Paul took some of his underwater rescue gear so that he would be able to help with the rescue efforts after the storm.
Although there was some evidence that his home might have survived the storm itself, it seems unlikely that it is not under water now that 80% of N.O. is flooded. However, Barbie, who has been glued to the TV from the beginning, thinks that the flooding might not have gotten to his neighborhood because he is on the other side of the Mississippi from the downtown area.
I last talked to Paul last night about 0130, after he returned from a day of rescuing people. He said it was a major mess. Although not reported by the networks, he reports a lot of bodies floating around where his team was working. When I talked to him, his intention for today was to try to get close to his neighborhood to check on his house. However, CNN reports that Tulane medical center lost it's back up generator today, and with it, water and electricity, and that it was surrounded by 6 feet of water. Barbie talked to him this morning and he said he was not able to get out. I suspect he is still at Tulane, but unable to recharge his cell phone. Since the Tulane staff was forced to carry critical patients to the roof for air evac to other hospitals, I suspect he has been helping them. (His ambulance company has a contract with Tulane, so he knows most of the emergency staff.) But, since he is also the Chairman of the water rescue committee of the N.O. disaster response agency, he might be with them --- if he could get to them.
And if things weren't bad enough, one of the news reports said that looters were going through the cars in the Tulane parking garage. Since Paul's van is only slightly lower than his family and his dogs on his list of things he loves, The Big Easy will be minus a looter if someone is foolish enough to break into it.
I'll send out another e-mail as things develop.
Paul, Jr.
August 31, Wednesday
Hi all,
Not a lot of new info. Davina heard from him this am. He was still unable to get out very far. His plan was to try to get to his house. Even though his house may be reachable, he has been stuck downtown by the water around the hospital. Davina has talked to some friends who said that their neighborhood is not flooded, but could not say exactly how their house has fared.
Apparently his hospital, like several others, has been turned into a fortress against the looters that have taken over the town. Apparently Tulane has it's own police force, and they have circled the facility and are carrying automatic weapons. And, according to Paul, are just itching to shoot a looter or two.
I'll write more as I hear more.
Paul, Jr.
September 2, Friday
Finally some good news. Paul was able to get to his house and found no damage, wind or water. He is going to spend the next couple of days inventorying his house and securing it as best as he can. He is then going to get as much as he can into a van he borrowed from the ambulance company he works for, and try to get to Davina in TX. They then will go to his mother's house near Hampton, VA.
More later.
Paul, Jr.
September 3, Saturday
I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I had the same feeling when the Gulf War broke out right after I retired. Paul has connected with his Parish Urban Search and Rescue Agency, and will spend "a few days" helping them out. I guess he has trained many, if not most of them in the water S&R stuff. You don't spend years getting prepared for something and then leave just when you are needed the most...even if you are getting shot at.
Apparently he looked them up to loan them some of his equipment to use during their searches, etc., and they gave him his first real meal since the hurricane. See, the way to a man's heart is still through his stomach. They also gave him some water and ice.
And they changed the flat tire he had on his borrowed wheelchair van. Apparently, the place where the tire went flat was too dangerous to stop, so he gunned it and drove to the fire department on the flat.
The phone line went dead several time during our conversation, so I don't have much new to report. Except that he is getting fed and rested, and is acting like his old self.
I have not heard what Davina thinks about this new plan. Since she is an EMT, and an Army medic from the Gulf War herself, I'm betting she won't be too surprised either.
More as I hear about it.
Paul, Jr.
September 3, Saturday, later
Here is the latest as I understand it. I talked to Davina tonight, but I have not been able to talk to Paul.
He has decided to stay for a few weeks. He is sleeping at the fire department command post, and visiting his house during the day. He has running water, but it is too contaminated to use for any thing other than the toilet. He is feeling pretty lucky. It wasn't until just recently that he was able to get an idea of what has been going on in New Orleans. He has only been able to see what was in front of him. Now that he sees the scope of the problem, he feels he must stay to help. He feels that by volunteering at his Parish fire department search and rescue team, he can give some of the other guys a bit of a break. He says some of the guys have been working flat out and haven't been able to go check on their own homes.
Davina has mixed feelings. She understands his position, but is worried about his safety. As soon as she is sure that her mother's and grandmother's plans are in place, she is going to go to Bev's (Paul's mom) in VA. She has been in touch with FEMA and her insurance company. They have assured her that they are going to help, they just aren't sure when.
Paul found his dogs. Apparently the guy who was taking care of them evacuated to Houston. But, he put Paul's dogs, and his own, and two cats (in separate carrying cages), in the car together. During the trip one of Paul's dogs got one of the cat boxes open. When his friend tried to pull the cat out of the dogs mouth, he was attacked and suffered quite a number of puncture wounds. He subsequently dropped the dogs off at an animal shelter in Lafayette. The shelter has been overwhelmed, and advertises that any animal left more than 3 days will be euthanized. But since the dog that attacked his friend has to be watched for 10 days to insure he doesn't have rabies, only one dog will survive long enough for Paul to get to Lafayette. So Paul's friend told the shelter he wasn't sure which dog bit him. That way the shelter has to watch both dogs for 10 days. The cat is being treated and is expected to survive. Paul is trying to get enough gas together to go get the dogs.
If it isn't one thing......
I will write more as I hear it.
By the way: a couple of people have been thinking about this, so I will put it out. Many of us are planning to make contributions to various agencies to help the victims in New Orleans. If any one is interested in bypassing the bureaucracies and contributing to help Paul and his family, I will find a way to get it to him. He is a lot better off than most of the people around him, but Paul and Davina both will be without paychecks for the next few months.
Paul, Jr.
[UPDATE]
Sept 8, Thursday, early
It has come to my attention that a number of people that are reading this don't know who some of the players are. So: Paul, the 3rd, (nick named PV III as a kid) is my son, Davina is his wife and Hunter is his 2yr old son. Barbie is my daughter and Bev is my ex and the mother of PV and the Barb. Barbie grew up in N.O. but now lives in Hampton, VA, relatively near Bev.
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After being unable to connect with PV or Davina for 3 days, I was happy to get a quick phone message from Davina this afternoon. She has been offered a place to stay in Alexandria, LA, and should have gotten there tonight.
I got a quick call through to PV just as he and his boss were heading out to see if they could retrieve a couple ambulances. Apparently the ambulance hijackings are down significantly so they are going to go back to running the proper rigs. However, they are still carrying guns.
Paul has been in touch with the shelter that has his dogs and they have agreed to keep them until he can get up to pick them up. Apparently they recognize that the search and rescue business has been a little busy lately, and are sympathetic to his plight. To the people that offered assistance with the dogs, he asked me to say thank you.
Paul's house, even though it sustained little damage, is in the mandatory evacuation zone. But, because he is in the EMS system, he will not have to evacuate.
More as I hear it.
Paul, Jr.
Sept. 9, Friday, early
Things are finally beginning to fall into place for Paul and his family.
The story, as I understand it so far, is that the ambulance company he works for has a sister ambulance company in Alexandria, LA. (about 180 miles northwest of New Orleans.) The sister company has found a house for Davina and Hunter to live in, child care for Hunter, and has given Davina a job as a dispatcher. (Davina is a registered EMT and has years of 911 dispatcher experience in New Orleans.) And Paul has been given a room at his bosses house, (about an hour from N.O.). Paul, his boss, and another employee are trying to get their company up and running. They had prepositioned several ambulances at several hospitals around the city so they would be able to run calls after the storm blew over. That was a pretty good plan....until the levy broke. Paul, as you may recall, was holed up at the Tulane medical center. They were soon surrounded by 6 feet of water. And so those ambulances, and his own van, (with his under water rescue gear), are still waiting for the water to recede. Yesterday, they were able to get to at least one of their ambulances at another location, and get it checked out to run calls. When they took it to get fueled, the starter failed. So when he called me, at 0330 this morning, he and his boss had just gotten back from a day of trying to retrieve enough equipment to either fix this rig or get another one on the road. When they get moving they will be transporting patients from N.O. hospitals to facilities outside the city that are still able to accept them. So, although he tends to favor the rescue environment, he recognizes that he is less vulnerable to the environmental dangers if he is running transport cases.
All things considered, he is doing pretty well. Which brings me to all the help that he has been offered. I told him that several friends and relatives have asked about, or have sent, donations to him. He was very grateful, but he said that he is doing so much better than so many others down there, that probably the money should go to the ones who were really hurt the most.
I'll write more as I hear it.
Paul, Jr.
[MORE UPDATE]
September 13, Tuesday, real early
Hi all,
It's 0100 on Tuesday the 13th. I just got off the phone with Paul. So if my writing gets a little fuzzy, bear with me.
He has been sent, by his ambulance company, to a town called Abita Springs, just north of Lake Ponchartrain. He is living at the fire house and running 911 calls for them.
He has been able to retrieve his van from Tulane Medical Center garage and said it was intact. And he has electricty at his house. He still can't drink the water, but things are beginning to come back to life. Perhaps too much life. He is having to set off a couple flea bombs in the house before it is inhabitable.
That's the good news.
I guess his ambulance company is one of the few that survived but they have taken a pretty big hit. So, he has taken a pay cut to help them keep running long enough to get back on their feet. And the job that was offered to Davina hasn't started yet. But the biggest blow is that the movie company moved the shooting venue to Shreveport, so he is out of that gig.
[A quick explanation. Paul has been positioning himself for a job called "set medic" for some time now. A set medic is the medic that movie companies have on movie sets in case something goes wrong. With Paul's combination of diving experience and paramedic credentials and experience, he was working with a move company shooting a major motion picture that involved a lot of water scenes. Apparently it stars Kevin Costner and a couple of other major stars, and it has something to do with Coast Guard rescues. Apparently the New Orleans set was destroyed, and the company moved everything rather than trying to rebuild around New Orleans. This was a VERY lucrative gig. And it was positioning him for more work in the movies made around the N.O. area. Actually, several weeks ago he was working on the set of a new Lucy Lawless horror flick when the director decided he need someone to play paramedics rescuing one of the actors who "falls" off a riverboat. Since Paul and his partner were there for any real rescues, the director decided to use them in the movie.]
And there is more bad news. Paul has contracted some kind of shingles-like condition on the skin on one side of his face. He isn't sure if he got it from the water or one of the victims he was rescuing from the water. I guess it is pretty painful. And if that wasn't enough, he is having trouble getting the right kind of meds to treat it. (I think he said viscous Lidocain.) The MD that saw him gave him the only samples they had in the hospital so he is trying to stretch that until he can find a pharmacy that is up and running.
(Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?)
Apparently, the water around there is too toxic to even touch safely. And spending time rescuing people is now taking your own health in your hands. He has been using his wetsuits and full masks etc. But, apparently that still leaves too much skin exposed. What he needs is a "dry suit" that is built to be used in harsh conditions. But they run in the $900.00 range. So, if it is OK with those of you who have sent contributions to him so far, I am going to put that money toward getting him one. He originally said that, because so many of his colleagues lost everything, and he was essentially intact, he was going to give the cash to the other guys. After we talked, he now sees the wisdom of spending it on a drysuit that will keep him healthy and able to continue working in the water. Additionally, after the rescue and recovery work is done, (which he is doing as a non-paid volunteer), there will be a lot of private salvage work available. This suit will make it possible for him to tap into that market as well. He still doesn't have a mailing address yet, but the guys at the fire house where he is staying say that FedEx has been getting through to them.
One more thing. In earlier e-mails I had alluded to a conversation Paul had with someone in a N.O. disaster response agency meeting last July about getting the firemen trained in water rescues, etc., and he was told that he "was moving too fast." Well, more details are emerging. Apparently, Paul is the Chairman of the New Orleans Urban Search and Rescue department's water rescue committee. A committee, it turns out, of one. Paul says that all the departments from around the country that have sent USAR teams are appalled that there is no one on the N.O. Fire Department that is trained in water rescue. (Paul, it should be recalled, works for a private ambulance company, not the City of N.O. and is on the N.O. team as a volunteer. His rescue diver teaching is his own business separate from his paramedic job.) The N.O. fireman are out there trying to rescue people wearing anything from their turnout gear to T-shirts. Given the recent medical problems Paul is experiencing, and he is trained, inoculated, and more or less prepared, the other guys ought to be in deep doodoo about now. (Pardon the unfortunate pun. I warned you that I was writing this very late at night.)
So that is where things are tonight. There is more to come, I am sure. Paul has been collecting stories that he is thinking about publishing. Sort of a grunts eye view of all this. He has told me some of them. You will not see them on CNN! But, I won't steal his thunder. You will have to wait for the book....or movie.
Paul, Jr.
September 14, Wednesday
I suppose it is a pretty accepted fact that regardless of the natural or man made disaster, cockroaches are the one sure critter to survive. Add lawyers. (My apologies to Bob.) [editor's note: I was about to groan in protest, but keep reading!]
Paul's ambulance service was thrown out of the town he has been working in for the last few days. There is some big, hotshot, nationwide ambulance service that had the contract to serve the town before Katrina. They abandoned the town and left it uncovered. That is when Paul's agency moved in to provide services. Well, of course the other ambulance company has a no competition clause in it's contract with the city, so a quick call to the lawyers and the city has no ambulance coverage again. Paul says they are planning to send an ambulance down from one of their other companies in Kentucky or somewhere. He isn't sure when they are supposed to arrive.
Speaking of arriving: The electricity is back on in Paul's subdivision, so Davina and Hunter should be arriving back home this weekend. And he is going up to pick up his dogs tomorrow. (The cat is doing OK, and is now at their house.)
Paul is going to order the drysuit tomorrow. (with gloves, boots, and hood it comes to $1078. And that's the wholesale price. It usually runs $1700 to $1800. I'm letting him use my credit card so he can get it immediately. And he can pay it off as the donations come in. There still isn't any postal service or banks, so I think this is about as good as we can do for now.
Oh, and his shingles are doing much better.
More as I hear it.
Paul, Jr.
September 15, Thursday
Tonight it is mostly good news. Starting with the fact that I just got off the phone with Paul and it isn't middle of the night for a change. And, since I am more or less awake, I will include a hot link to Paul's web site.
But first the news. Paul picked up his dogs, and cat, today, and all are well. Davina and Hunter will probably be home this weekend.... If Paul can evict or kill the fleas. After two bombs, he is going to bomb the house again tomorrow. Instead of wading through sewage recovering bodies, tomorrow he will be working at a make shift clinic giving inoculations. He lives in one of the areas that people are being let back into, and the idea is to inoculate everybody that goes back.
His van died again, so his boss let him use the wheelchair van to pickup the animals. (a two hour drive outside of N.O.) He is feeling extremely lucky, especially for the support he is getting from his boss.
Today he was interviewed by a FOX news channel out of Pennsylvania, and the BBC. (note to Jeannine: We won't see the BBC interview over here, so if you see it tell me how he looks.)
He asked me again to thank everybody for your support. We ran into a glitch trying to find a FedEx location to send the drysuit to. He has seen some FedEx trucks moving around, but when I called FedEx they said they aren't making any deliveries to anywhere in N.O. yet. I'm sure he will think of something.
Some more background:
Paul started a SCUBA teaching business several years and called it Stingray Pete's. (After the nickname he got while he was getting his Master Divers Certification) Over the years he developed an extension of that business that really has taken over. He started teaching recreational diving to police and fire department personnel who want some diving skills that might translate into their work. It has grown into a pretty large business teaching underwater search and rescue, forensic diving, (recovering bodies and other evidence), and other public safety diving courses all along the Gulf Coast. He has named the public safety out growth Dive And Rescue Educators, Inc. He has taught water rescue to several public safety agencies from LA. to FL., but not N.O.
This is his DARE website:
http://www.diveandrescue.org/index.html
If the link doesn't work type in:
http://www.stingraypetes.com/
More later,
Paul, Jr.
September 20, Tuesday
Hi all,
Davina and Hunter arrived back home Sunday, just in time for the mayor to change his mind about letting people back in and order another evacuation in the face of a new hurricane now rounding the Florida Keys, and heading for the Texas to Florida gulf coast. Since they live outside the original flood zone, and the fear is the new storm will overwhelm the few pumps that are working, I don't think they will evacuate this time as long as the storm doesn't get outrageous.
While Davina was surveying the house and the damage to the yard and fence, she got a look at their roof from the vantage point of the neighbors yard, and noticed two holes where once stood a couple of attic vents. Further inspection found water damage in the attic and ceiling. They still consider themselves extremely lucky to have so little damage.
Especially now that they have a better idea of what happened to her mother's house. Apparently the roof was damaged more than the initial reports indicated, and has since collapsed into the house and destroyed everything but the dining room. And of course anything that survived the collapse, was soaked by the subsequent rains. She notes something I hadn't heard from the news media. The Mayor was encouraging the "repopulation" of N.O. But there are still no provisions for housing the people that return to unlivable homes. Davina noticed dozens of small mobile homes with FEMA printed on them parked along the road into N.O., but nobody was doing anything with them.
My daughter Barbie called today to tell me she is now back in VA after gong to LA for a week. She went to Houma, LA for the funeral of her father-in-law. He suffered a heart attack the Thursday after the hurricane. They are not attributing it to the storm, just chronic bad health. But I suspect the storm didn't help any. She describes her trip down to Houma as being eerie. They had to go around N.O., of course, but she did go through sections of LA near Slidel and the area that took the brunt of the storm. She describes pulling off the highway to get gas and finding stations that were populated by dozens of empty cars and no people. At other stations she found the stations were closed but there were occasionally people living out of cars on the station property. The scenery was essentially broken trees and bent street signs, and debris everywhere, but no people. She wondered if perhaps the Rapture had come and they missed it because they were on the road.
Paul has ordered the dry suit, and he should have it by Thursday or Friday. He and I both want to thank everyone who helped. The contributions came to over half the cost of the suit. Outstanding!
And, thanks to people sharing this e-mail with others, (Thanks Uncle Loren), one of my cousins is going to donate a drysuit and other dive gear, he has had for a number of years that he doesn't use anymore. We aren't sure it will fit Paul, but, if not, this gives Paul the ability to loan it to one of the divers that work for him so that Paul has a backup diver while he is making hazardous dives. An interesting background story is that this cousin is the person who first introduced Paul to SCUBA diving many years ago. And now Paul has taken that introduction, amplified it by hundreds, perhaps thousands, of hours of education, training, and experience, and is now not only teaching SCUBA to others, but teaching others how to save lives using underwater skills and techniques. And now he will be using his first instructors own gear in the pursuit of those goals. It just goes to show what one little, seemingly innocuous, act of kindness can produce years down the road.
As things seem to be leveling off a bit for Paul and his crew, there is less and less interesting news to report. I will continue to share any interesting stories that come my way, but we can expect that these e-mails will become further apart.
Paul, Jr.
[editor's note: Paul Fraser jr can be reached directly here]
[UPDATE 9/23/05] The adventure continues!
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| From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: |
September 11th, 2005 05:46 pm (UTC) |
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Tulane Parking Garage
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I found these messages in a search about the Tulane Hospital Parking Garage. My mother lost her home to flood. He parked her car on the sixth floor of the Tulane Parking Garage. It was jammed pack with important papers and memorabilia. My mother is with us in Connecticut now, but she is worried sick about the stuff in her car. Do you know if vehicles parked on the sixth floor were spared from the looting?
Please get back to my email address steven.a.roberts@snet.net or call my cell at 860-874-8461. God bless you.
| From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: |
September 18th, 2005 01:29 am (UTC) |
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Re: Tulane Parking Garage
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My name is Paul Fraser. Please don't believe everything my father has (shamelessly) posted on the web. What is true is that I did stay TMC and over the last 2-3 weeks, have been back to retrieve other personal vehicles and EMS vehicles. When I left there were only a small percentage vehicles with damage or a battery removed. Mostly all on the second floor. There is a heavy military presence around TMC and you stuff should be fine.
Paul
![[User Picture Icon]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/27459829/6191726) |
| From: | ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2) rgoing |
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| Date: |
September 18th, 2005 02:01 am (UTC) |
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Re: Tulane Parking Garage
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Listen, Paul, you just go about your business helping people and let your father and this blogster tell the story the way we want to tell it!
God bless you and your family.
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| From: | rgoing |
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| Date: |
September 17th, 2005 05:27 am (UTC) |
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Re: Tulane Parking Garage
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(Link) |
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[GOOD DEED BY PAUL AND PAUL]
Hi Steve,
I talked to Paul tonight and asked him about the Tulane garage. He said your mom's stuff should be OK. His van was on the 8th floor (of the Saratoga garage) and said the looters apparently fatigued before they got much above the 3rd or 4th floor. (Sheesh, the youth of America are such softies.)
He said an occasional battery disappeared above that, but most everything else was intact.
Good luck,
Paul
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