Two paramedics return home after working in gulf

ADEL, GA (WALB) - By Jade Bulecza - bio | email

ADEL, GA (WALB) –You don't hear much about the gulf oil leak any more but crews are still at work looking for oil and cleaning it up.

Two Adel paramedics just returned home after helping with those oil relief efforts.

They roamed the waterways near Venice, Louisiana for two weeks providing medical aid.

Two nationally certified Mid Georgia Ambulance paramedics are back from working out in the gulf.

John Eckard spent much of his time on a boat for fourteen days to provide medical services for those cleaning up the oil pollution from the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

"There was no one else around that's what we were there for and were kind of far out," said Eckard.

He handled about 90 calls. When he wasn't on the water he was on a flotel about 50 miles south of Venice. Several clean-up companies and safety officials were on board while several alligators below .

"There was just swarms of them that would come to the flotel everyday and just hang out," said Eckard. "You wouldn't want to fall in the water."

Crews were working on decontamination barges and cleaning up tar balls on nearby islands.

"From what I could see, they stayed pretty busy everyday," said Eckard.

Lynn Lawson stayed at Venice known as end of the world at night and on a boat during the day.

"Most of them were out of work because of the effects from the oil so they utilized them and their boats so that it would give them some kind of work to do while they were out of work," said Lawson.

Lawson and Eckard, the only two Adel paramedics to go out to the gulf, say it was a once in life time experience and a larger operation than what they thought it would be.

Mid Georgia Ambulance has sent two paramedics to Venice, Louisiana every two weeks since July.

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