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Texas A&M volunteers and officials from the U.S. Public Health Commission care for 263 special needs patients affected by Hurricane Ike.

Reed Arena temporary hospital

By: Meredith Zdenek

Posted: 9/18/08

Reed Arena opened its doors to patients transferring from nursing homes and hospitals in the Bryan-College Station area Sept. 10 in preparation for Hurricane Ike.

"This shelter was not a general shelter. The Federal Medical Station is a 'special needs' shelter, those who come have to have some level of medical care necessary to be at this facility. Those who have no medical need are sent at what they call a general shelter for care," said Public Information and U.S. Public Health Service Commission Corps Cmdr. Peter Martineau.

A large percentage of the patients were transferred from Chambers and Jefferson counties, Beaumont, Port Arthur and Galveston. The majority came from nursing homes that were closed in anticipation of the hurricane.

Upon arrival of these patients, volunteers came to help however they could. Assistance came from officers of the U.S. Public Health Commissions Corps, A&M faculty, nursing and medical students, the Corps of Cadets, student organizations, students and people from the community.

The U.S. Public Health Commissions Corps Officers have more than 200 officers that have been at Reed Arena since Sept. 10 working 12-hour days. These officers left stations in different parts of the country to give support and help to those who lost homes to Hurricane Ike.

These patients are given shelter, comfort, food, drink, beds and full attention from volunteers to attend needs.

"What's really going on is this very partnered effort between A&M, the U.S. Commissions Corps and the state of Texas. Those three big players work in close contact to provide the physical staging and medical assistance and to coordinate the closing of the facility and the evacuation of these patients from their nursing homes," Martineau said.

The Corps of Cadets were preparing to assist the transferring patients before they arrived at Reed Arena.

"We went out to Easterwood Field to help unload patients who weren't able to physically get off themselves and helped transfer them here to Reed Arena," said Byron Contreras, a sophomore political science major in Squadron 2.

Cadets volunteered at Reed, some of them just wanted to help, others did so because they had been personally affected by Ike or other hurricanes.

"My family got hit by Gustav when it was around, so I'm very excited to help out in any way I can," said John Griffin, a sophomore biomedical science major in Squadron 18.

"I'm especially excited that we will actually be able to work with the patients themselves," said Steven Bridges, a junior accounting major accompanying Griffin.

The U.S. Public Health Commissions does not know when these patients will be transferred elsewhere.

"[We are] grateful of the community offering we are receiving, especially from A&M," Martineau said.

"As a college student, I am really blessed as a Texas A&M student to get a great education and be able to afford a house to live at now, whereas these people may have lost everything," Contreras said. "Anything I can do to help them out in this time of need is where I feel like I am supposed to be."