ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 4, 1996 TAG: 9612040015
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PEARISBURG
SOURCE: CLAYTON BRADDOCKSTAFF WRITER
Buddy Nepstad knew he would make it home up Trigg Mountain near Staffordsville. After all he was in the arms of eight strong men.
Standing outside a Roanoke hospital a few hours earlier, he wasn't too sure.
Released from the hospital after recovering from serious blood clots, Nepstad had no way to make the trip.
That's when Mary Tebault, coordinator of the fledgling Giles County Volunteer Disaster Relief squad, went into action. The squad drove to Roanoke and carried Nepstad up the mountain and home.
A Giles County widow Claudine Fisher can also thank the disaster relief squad.
Fisher woke up one morning to 6 feet of snow and was unable to make funeral arrangements for her husband, who died the night before. She was trapped for five days until the disaster squad brought her down through the treacherous mountain storm.
Tebault and other volunteers hope to keep the squad active with community support for its special mission. Their latest effort is a state-approved raffle that will end Dec. 18.
"The only people who do what we do is the American Red Cross," Tebault said. "In times of disaster, you do not qualify for police cars or fire trucks.
"If you need help, we will bring you firewood, food and other assistance," Tebault said.
The squad goes where other emergency vehicles - fire trucks, police cars - often can't make the grade. Each of the volunteers drives a four-wheel vehicle.
"I can put 12 to 25 volunteers into action at any given time," Tebault said.
The squad began its mission on July 12, 1995. Since then, it has jumped into action during floods, snow, landslides, hurricanes, fires and other disasters.
Nearly 40 residents have received help from the squad since it began in 1995.
Truck drivers aren't the only volunteers, said Tebault, a former certified paramedic and the first woman to be a paid ambulance driver in Giles County.
Some are handicapped, including a Vietnam War veteran. Many of the handicapped are residents who cannot leave their homes, but stay close to their telephones to relay messages about people in trouble from alert neighbors, police dispatchers, Sheriff Larry Falls' deputies and others.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB