Unsung Heroes: Neighbors Caring For Neighbors
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Snow chains were installed on shuttles operated by Yalobusha Health Services to help navigate the ice last week following the winter storm. The shuttles rolled for eight days, transporting the healthcare employees to and from work. Other workers stayed at the hospital or nursing home when their shifts ended.
WATER VALLEY – The Ice Storm of 2024 created havoc unprecedented in decades as schools, county and city offices, the post office and local businesses were shuttered for days due to treacherous travel after several inches of ice came down in the county.
The ice accumulation on Jan. 15 was followed by frigid weather and each day brought updated reports on road conditions with little change – except they were often worse than the day before.
Some people could stay home, but it was different for essential workers including healthcare employees at Yalobusha Health Services (YHS) who logged long hours last week. Dr. Paul Odom calls them the “unsung heroes,” the workers who took care of patients at the hospital and the residents at the nursing home.
“I have been watching how things work and got to thinking about it with all this bad weather,” Dr. Odom shared late last week. “These people need a special mention, some of them were home very little after the storm hit.”
The longtime physician’s report included nurses and other employees sleeping at the hospital or nursing home between shifts, ambulances rolling during the entire icy ordeal, the maintenance department coordinating shuttle services for workers, kitchen crews making sure patients and residents were fed – the list is endless as YHS employs almost 400 workers. Dr. Odom has a unique perspective after logging over six decades with Yalobusha Health Services.
“With the clinic being on a hill, there were times we couldn’t get folks up the hill over the years after snow or ice. But we didn’t stay out long and managed to get back going. But this storm is one of the worst that I can remember, as far as disrupting healthcare,” Odom noted.
YHS Administrator Jessica Embry also described the tight-knit crew as heroes – super heroes.
“YHS employees are real super heroes,” Embry said. “Some of them brought their suitcases last Sunday and stayed. They slept on air mattresses and empty beds when their shift ended. They were ready for work with a smile when their shift started again.”
Todd Hughes serves as the Director of Facilities at YHS and much of the day-to-day logistics were in his realm.
Todd Hughes shared a picture of his “office” window last week. Hughes is Director of Facilities at Yalobusha Health Services and spent long hours helping transport employees to and from work on the icy roads. He reported a trip to Oakland and back could take as long as two-and-a-half hours.
“Most of the time it was a long, slow drive in the country and you had to be very careful, because no one was going to be driving by if you needed help,” Hughes said.
“We picked up workers for eight days straight. Nobody really saw this coming the way it ended up – four inches of ice on the ground for eight days in Mississippi,” Hughes reported. “It was so slick that in some places you could put your truck and park and it would start sliding down a hill.”
Hughes has weathered earlier storms as a longtime YHS employee and believes in being prepared. YHS’s vans and buses typically used to transport patients were instead used to bring employees to work and take them home after their shifts during the icy mess.
Before the storm, drivers were trained on how to install and use snow chains that would be placed on the wheels of the shuttle vehicles.
“Every time you get out of the bus, you have to adjust the chains,” Hughes explained about the training as the winter storm was approaching.
The chains helped as Hughes coordinated the shuttle service during some of the toughest travel conditions he has ever experienced. Thursday morning was the worst after a light rain started to fall on the ice. A bus was stuck in Rolling Hills with 10 employees, members of the kitchen staff who were coming in to prepare meals. They got that bus out when Hughes’ phone rang again.
“I didn’t realize what was going on at first, the rain on top of the ice was freezing. I had another bus stuck on the loop above Davidson Elementary School,” Hughes said.
Hughes started up Martin Street to assist the second bus when he realized how serious it was. He barely made it, but when he got out he realized it was too slick to even walk.
“It was a real scary time for about an hour,” Hughes said about the Thursday morning. “We were trying to open the clinics, but I called Jessica (Embry) and told her how dangerous it was. We were trying to get the clinics open but it was not safe.”
“This was very tiring, but they did it with a smile all while maintaining the facilities” Embry said about the work by Hughes and his crew.
Dr. Odom noted that response by the crews working the ambulances was also heroic. The two ambulances ran day and night throughout the week starting the night of the storm when a crew responded to a fentanyl overdose. The EMTs were able to save the patient.
“I am in charge of the ambulance service, they call me when things get out of hand,” Dr. Odom explained. “There were times when they could get to the call, but then couldn’t make it up the driveway. There were some real battles going on in the community during this weather. But the paramedics never stopped,” Dr. Odom said.
Neighbors Caring For Neighbors
“When things like this happen, everybody pulls together and works together,” Hughes added. “I might be the director of facilities, but I can go down and help wherever I am needed. You may see a nurse helping bust ice off the sidewalk to get a wheelchair unloaded.”
“Employees didn’t say, ‘That is not my job.’ Our nursing home administrator shoveled ice and snow from the sidewalks. If there was something that needed doing and they could do it, it was done,” Embry added. “There has been such a sense of community. These employees have lived up to our motto, ‘Neighbors Caring For Neighbors,’” Embry reported.
Hughes also noted the same can-do attitude is present in the entire community as many reached out with offers to provide assistance.
“This is a great place to live. Everybody is trying to help and doing whatever they can to help other people,” Hughes said.
