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Michigan First Responders Lending Hand In New York In Wake Of Sandy

SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) - Greg Beauchemin, president of Community EMS in Southfield, which has branches around the country, has sent 25 units to the East Coast to help out in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

Beauchemin said that they spent their first day in New York evacuating patients at a hospital which had lost power.

"It's a frantic job because there is a lot of danger out there for the crews, water and electrical lines down, the power is out. So, they are moving patients as safely as they can to move them into areas that are out of harms way," Beauchemin said.

He added: "Our medics and paramedics really want to be there, they volunteered to go ... I think it's something that is very important to them, we've been doing this since (hurricane) Katrina."

Beauchemin said sending help to other areas in the country will not deplete the resources in Michigan. "We have adequate resources in Michigan we made sure we didn't short any of our service areas," he said.

Beauchemin said FEMA has asked for more help and Community will send four more units from its Southfield office.

MORE ON SANDY:

60,000 Still Without Power In Metro Detroit

Death Toll From Superstorm Sandy Climbs; Clean Up Begins

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