ATLANTA, Jan. 11, 2011 – At the request of GEMA, Georgia National Guard Soldiers have assisted in transporting snowbound Grady Memorial Hospital staff to the hospital safely despite treacherous and icy Atlanta roads.

The involved Guardsmen are members of the 560th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, headquartered at Ft. Gillem in Forest Park, Ga., and the 648th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, headquartered in Columbus, Ga. Braving the icy roads in their humvees, the Citizen-Soldiers were able to transport 13 hospital staff from their snowed-in homes all over the metro Atlanta area to Grady.

"Since about two p.m. Monday afternoon, we’ve been transporting medical staff from their homes to Grady Memorial," said Spc. Joshua Blevins, a mechanic with the 178th Military Police Company of the 648th MEB. "We just want them to get to their destinations safely, so that they can go about the business of saving lives."

Angela Morgan, of Kennesaw, Ga., is a Registered Nurse in Grady’s labor and delivery department. Unable to make it out of her driveway due to heavy snow, she did not expect to make it to work for days. “I couldn’t believe it when the National Guard showed up,” she said.

Some of Morgan’s fellow nurses, who lived much closer to the hospital, were picked up by Grady personnel earlier in the day. But Morgan knew that same service would not be able to make it all the way to Kennesaw, some 30 miles north of Atlanta.

 “On a good day, we have eight to ten nurses on duty in labor and delivery,” said Morgan. “Tonight, we might have six. So each nurse that can come in really makes a difference.”

In fact, Morgan arrived at Grady in the Guard’s humvee just in time to find out that three patients were in labor.

“Women are counting on us nurses to help with their labor,” said Morgan. “It’s good to know that we could count on the National Guard.”

For more images of the National Guard's response to the winter storm: CLICK HERE

Contact:

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Ken Baldowski

Media Relations Officer

Georgia Department of Defense

(678) 569-6060

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