Scott Warner

I do think security in this area is better than it was a couple of days ago, ... Still I'd have to say that security is a concern. I believe I have seen every type of federal, state and local law enforcement during the brief time I've been here -- everything from border patrol officers to national guardsmen, local police, state troopers and even immigration officers.

I don't think the process was handled very efficiently in the beginning. It's going well now, but the federal government is having to play catch-up, ... A good example is the fact that we were shuffled from city to city in the beginning of our trip before finally being directed to New Orleans, which is where we should have been deployed to begin with.

I can also understand to some extent the frustration these survivors are experiencing, ... The sheer number of people crammed in here boggles the mind. There are literally tens of thousands of people still here and they are packed in like sardines. They are frustrated and angry and crowd control is always a concern.

I don't know how to describe it except to say that what was once the beautiful and thriving city of New Orleans now looks more like a third world country, ... The living conditions for the injured, the sick and the survivors of Hurricane Katrina are disgusting. The stench is awful and the conditions are terrible, yet people hang on to life -- some ever so slight -- but they hang on.

I really don't know what to expect. Like everyone else, I've seen pictures of the devastation on TV and in the newspaper. It looks pretty desolate, but we're ready for this and I expect we'll be pretty busy,

I left home knowing I could be gone two weeks, perhaps longer and that's still the case, ... I do want to thank everyone back in Cullman who continue to pray for him and his family while he's away. He sends a special thank you to the physicians and staff at Cullman Internal Medicine who have taken up the slack in his absence.

With limited resources physicians must pick and choose who must receive immediate medical attention and who can wait, ... In a triage setting, patients with minor injuries or sickness are given a green arm band. Those with moderate afflictions receive a yellow band and those in the most immediate need of medical assistance are given a red arm band.

There are 15 members of our team and I'm the only physician, ... We also have nurses, pharmacists, paramedics, practically every specialty you would find in a regular hospital.

We were told by a state trooper that there is only one gas station between Montgomery and Mobile, ... We've checked with the National Guard and the only fuel they have is diesel. We have enough gasoline to make the trip down. The problem is we need gasoline to run the generators and vehicles once we get there and that is a concern.

There is a big hospital at the LSU Dome and the LSU medical staff appeared to have things there well in hand when we arrived Friday, ... Not sure where we would be directed to go next we waited. Word soon came that we were to go to New Orleans and we instantly knew we were going into the heart of the storm.