Hoosiers dispatched to help in Mississippi

Hoosiers are blazing the trail for workers aiding devastated residents of southern Mississippi. \nRegistered nurse and state Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, is one of many Hoosiers working as a part of Operation Hoosier Relief in and around Biloxi, Miss. The operation is the first group from Indiana with medical personnel, she said in a phone interview, and follows Indiana's immediate emergency response team Task Group One. \nThe group is not limited to nurses from the private sector, like Welch. According to an executive order from Gov. Mitch Daniels, Operation Hoosier Relief is composed of health and environmental workers, workers from the Family and Social Services Administration and the state police, among others.\nIndiana State Trooper Kevin Getz is currently working out of Biloxi with the operation. Getz said in a phone interview he is one of 10 underwater search and recovery specialists from the Indiana State Troopers based out of Biloxi. \nGetz spends his days patrolling the bayous and bays, enforcing the current ban on local boat traffic in the area affected by the hurricane. But the most important and touching part of his job is the simple act of meeting residents, he said.\n"We've been sent down here to lend support," he said. "That can be as simple as just talking to people.\n"When I tell them I am from Indiana, they just look at you with relief. The gratitude they express is amazing."\nMany sectors of the Gulfport, Miss.-area community -- an area laden with bodies of water, devastated by Hurricane Katrina -- are in need. Welch said a significant part of her job will be discovering the immediate needs of the residents. \n"People have not had access to mental health drugs ... blood sugar medicine," she said. "We are waiting on supplies; there's not been a lot of hands-on stuff to do."\nIndiana State Trooper First Sgt. Dave Bursten is working around the Biloxi area to stabilize Mississippian lives. \n"We are acting as law enforcement here," he said in a phone interview. "We are basically doing the same thing here as we would at home.\n"The public safety officers have been victims, too. We are trying to help them normalize their lives."\nBursten said Operation Hoosier Relief sent 200 people to the area. Daniels' executive order confirmed what Bursten and Welch both said: the Indiana aid workers are to be in Mississippi for no longer than 60 days. \nAmong the Hoosiers in the area, an estimated 95 are law enforcement. The remaining 105 are fire officials, doctors, nurses and mental health professionals, Bursten said. \nEspecially important is the care for the mentally ill, Welch said. Some were stuck in the area during the hurricane and now have been with out medication for days.\n"Of course we are blazing the trail as far as finding out what needs to be done," Welch said. "We are trying to assess what the residents of Mississippi need now"