With a background in urban search and rescue, Jenny Shilling figured she was a logical choice to take part in the county Department of Fire and Rescue Services' recent mission to aid the people of hurricane-ravaged Louisiana.
Members of the unit - known as USAR - are trained in finding and extricating disaster victims.
After making the 26-hour trip to rural Alexandria, Shilling and the other four members of the second relief unit sent in September by the Department of Fire and Rescue Services immediately worked an 18-hour shift.
"I thought, 'Wow! What did I get myself into?' " said Shilling, the only woman among the eight responders in two groups sent by the county. "But we worked together well, and everything just clicked."
As it turned out, Shilling didn't have to draw on her USAR experience - though she keeps a bag packed at her Elkridge home in case she is called to duty by the Maryland Task Force.
"Most of what we did was what we expected to do - assist with evacuation and transport," said Shilling, a heavy-equipment operator and 18-year veteran of the county fire department. "Nothing we handled was an emergency. It wasn't glorious, but we made a difference."
Shilling and the other members deployed over a three-week period last month as part of the state's five-unit Medical Strike Team were welcomed back at a recent reception by County Executive Ken Ulman and Fire Chief Joseph Herr.
The state's team also consisted of units from Baltimore City and Charles and Harford counties, as well as responders from LifeStar, a private ambulance service. The Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems had requested the team in response to a call for help by the Maryland Emergency Management Agency.
Battalion Chief Chuck King and Capt. Raymond Petry, who led the county's two units, introduced a six-minute slide show illustrating the teams' experiences.
"I should point out that at our busiest times, we didn't have a camera in hand," said King, a Glenwood resident and leader of the first team, which arrived in Louisiana before Hurricane Gustav did.
The chief said he and his three-member unit hunkered down in the predawn hours of Sept. 1, along with several hundred first responders, in a building four times the size of the Cow Palace at the Maryland State Fairgrounds.
After pounding the structure with heavy rain, Gustav passed over within several hours with wind speeds of up to 50 mph, he said. Over the course of that day, the storm dumped 19 inches of rain on the area.
