Hurricane Irma: Tennessee Sending First Responders To Florida

NASHVILLE, TN — The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) is sending teams of medical and search-and-rescue personnel to Florida to help officials there in responding to Hurricane Irma, the agency announced Friday. The Category 4 storm is expected to make landfall in south Florida on Sunday morning, according to media reports.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott and other officials have urged the state's residents to evacuate before the hurricane arrives. Thousands have already fled, jamming Florida highways and causing fuel shortages, say media reports. (For weather updates and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Middle Tennessee Patch morning newsletter.)

The teams from Tennessee, with a total of 151 members, include a 40-nurse strike team; five EMS ambulance strike teams with 57 members; three urban search-and-rescue teams with 40 members; two health incident management teams with 10 members; and a four-member team of emergency management officials, TEMA said in a statement.

Watch: President Trump Urges People To Heed Hurricane Warnings

The agency said it began assembling the Hurricane Irma response teams Wednesday afternoon. On Friday, the ambulance strike teams deployed from Chattanooga, and the urban search-and-rescue team deployed from Nashville.

The nurse strike team is expected to deploy from Chattanooga on Saturday. All of the teams will base their operations in Tallahassee, Fla., for an eight-to-14 day deployment, TEMA said.

The nurses include practitioners from Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) regional public health departments across the state. They "will provide crucial medical care and support to Hurricane Irma survivors," TEMA said.

The ambulance strike teams include emergency medical technicians and paramedics from EMS agencies across Tennessee, as well as Vanderbilt LifeFlight in Nashville and the Williamson Medical Center's Emergency Medical Services.

The urban search-and-rescue teams include representatives from Metro Nashville’s Office of Emergency Management, and the fire, police and public works departments. The teams also include personnel from the Brentwood and Franklin fire departments, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Williamson County Emergency Management Agency.

"Nashville was very fortunate to receive assistance and aid from other cities and agencies during the historic 2010 flood,” Mayor Megan Barry said in the TEMA statement. “I know Metro’s first responders will work tirelessly to help the people of Florida and keep them safe during the challenging days ahead.”

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