Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 26/05) - When an ambulance pulled up to a house in a small town in Texas, Yellowknife's Jim Martin was on board, ready to give a hand.

Jim MartinJim Martin watches as the head of the paramedic team in Deweyville, Texas, puts a Canadian flag on their ambulance. Martin, a member of the Yellowknife Community Emergency Response Team, is helping out in the stricken community. - photo courtesy of Jim Martin

Martin, a member of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) in Yellowknife, was in the U.S. for about two weeks, starting on Sept. 25, to help victims of hurricane Rita. This is the second time a Yellowknife resident has gone to the southern U.S. to help hurricane victims. Tony Clarke ventured to Gulfport, Mississippi, to aid victims of hurricane Katrina in September.

Working out of an emergency operations centre in Jasper, Texas, he and two other Canadians did pathfinder search and rescue missions to outlying communities identifying areas that needed resources.

"We hit the ground running at full speed and didn't stop until we got back," said Martin, who returned to Yellowknife on Oct. 8.

One mission brought them to Deweyville where they relieved the emergency medical services team that was short staffed and "dog tired," said Martin.

Cora Twiner was one person they helped. In the aftermath of the hurricane, 65-year-old Twiner needed an emergency transport to the hospital in the city of Orange, 30 miles away.

A few days later the men were reassigned to work Deweyville.

"The volunteers handed us the keys and we did 111 hours straight as the on-call ambulance," said Martin who works as an instructor with the Canadian Rangers in Yellowknife.

Martin was at the ambulance depot when a man came asking about the Canadians. "They treated my wife and saved her life," he told people.

The man was Bill Twiner, Cora's husband. He invited Martin and his two partners, Jay O'Connor of Manitoba and Daryl Black of Edmonton, to his house to surprise Cora.

"There was hugs and kisses and everybody was crying," said Martin.

The Twiners gratitude had us fighting back tears, he said.

"When you're back at home and you think things are down, remember that you will always be remembered here," is one of the things Martin remembers Cora saying.

In all, the three men did nine emergency transports to the hospital.

"It's an incredible feeling to know you are doing some good," said Martin.