Hot Springs first responders provide ambulance, medical services to communities after Helene, preparing for Milton

TAMPA, Fla. – Hot Spring Life Net ambulance service received the call to assist during Hurricane Helene; now, after two weeks, they are on standby for Hurricane Milton.

Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday evening and the Hot Springs Life Net is on standby in Miami, waiting to return to the area to help follow the mass destruction the hurricane is expected to bring.

“Being that person for the person in their time of need is incomparable,” Hot Springs Paramedic Rustun Anderson said.

Anderson was on the first crew that was sent down to be on standby for category four Hurricane Helene.

“When I got the call that our services were needed, I was like okay, when can we go, and they were like okay, well, we need to leave in an hour and a half,” Anderson said.

As soon as they made it and Hurricane Helene made landfall, they waited for the all-clear message to begin helping.

“We were all tasked with different things, whether getting a patient from hospital to hospital, going door to door, asking the community what they needed us to do, or running 9-1-1 calls,” Anderson said.

According to Anderson, Hot Springs Life Net partnered with local ambulance services to conduct rescue and recovery for any medical needs of the communities devastated by the impacts of the hurricane.

“We are used to having to move and do things quickly, like at the drop of a dime, and doing that 24/7 for two weeks straight, physically, is so tiring,” Anderson said.

Anderson recalls the crew taking naps in the ambulance to get rested for the next 911 call.

“Then the call came in for Hurricane Milton, crews helping transport patients from hospitals in the line to safer locations, hundreds of patients,” Anderson said.

The one thing that gives Anderson hope is watching the communities come together following Hurricane Helene, something he hopes to see following Hurricane Milton.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.