Air ambulance crew from Phoenix area sets off for Louisiana following Hurricane Ida

Arizona-based air ambulance crew heading to Louisiana

The crew, according to AirCARE1, is on their first FEMA mission, after the region was hit hard by Hurricane Ida. FOX 10's Danielle Miller reports.

PHOENIX - A special air crew left the Valley for Louisiana on Aug. 31, with a mission to help evaluate people hit hard by Hurricane Ida.

According to a post made by AirCARE1, a long-range air ambulance service, its Arizona crew is heading off to the southern state for their first-ever FEMA deployment.

"To say our crew is eager and ready to help is an understatement," read a portion of the post.

(Can't see the Facebook post? Click here)

The crew says the Louisiana area was already seeing overcrowding in its hospitals before the storm. Now, with power outages and everything else they're dealing with, it is making the situation much worse.

"We do know that the resources are stretched very thin. We do know that the hospitals accepting these patients are way off from where the hurricane actually hit," said Natalie Arnold.

The crew was busy on the morning of Aug. 31, packing the jet with medical supplies before taking off from Deer Valley Airport.

"We've been making multiple trips back and forth prior to the hurricane, helping in those efforts to decompress and get those patients out to further hospitals that can accept them, so our primary goal is to take hospital patients and get them to other hospitals in other states to make room for more patients," said Arnold.

Arnold says the mission will last anywhere from five days to up to a month.

"Our aircraft flies at all times with two pilots and then we fly a paramedic nurse. What they are requesting is a daytime crew and a nighttime crew. From here we’re taking 4 pilots, two nurses and two paramedics."

Arnold says going into a situation like this, they never really know what will be thrown their way, but they're fully prepared to help in any way.

"Basically, any ICU situation that you can come across, we are ready to handle, and for hours upon hours at a time. We are used to flying these patients long distances," said Arnold.