News Service

Notes from Louisiana

by Gene Deisinger
(Deisinger, an Iowa State University police commander, is in charge of health services for Hurricane Katrina victims and Red Cross staff working on the disaster.)

Sept. 19: Setting up

I arrived in Louisiana on Friday the 16th and was put up in a staff shelter overnight along with several outstanding people from all across the United States coming down to the Louisiana area to assist with disaster relief efforts.

I spent the day on Saturday the 17th processing in Baton Rouge. Yesterday late, I was dispatched down to Houma, La., and then from there am operating out of the command post in Gray, La. helping to manage the staffing for mental health services for both evacuees from the disaster site as well as Red Cross staff on site. It's incredibly warm and uncomfortable down here. I can only imagine what many of the evacuees are dealing with so far. We have a number of mental health professionals who are volunteering down here and we're coordinating their efforts to get out and serve the needs of the population.

I'll touch base again in the next day or so.

I'm safe and on team representing Iowa State and our colleagues and staff there. Hope you are all well.

Gene Deisinger

Iowa State University's Gene Deisinger, a clinical psychologist and commander of the special operations unit of the ISU Police, is spending several weeks in Gray, La., where he is in charge of health services for both Hurricane Katrina victims and Red Cross workers. Gray, La., is about 60 miles southwest of New Orleans.