Greetings Theodore and Dawes Communities,
I hope everyone fared well during Snowmageddon 2025. It goes without saying that this South Alabama weather is totally confusing and can’t make up its mind. The week of the snow you had to bundle up daily and the following week we almost touched 80 degrees every day. I recently finished up my hunting season and I had to wear my long johns for the morning hunt but before the day was over, I had to come out of all that and ended the day with just a t-shirt, go figure. It’s no wonder why we have so many sick people in our area all the time.
As we have exited January and dive head long into February, please do what you can to maintain your personal health. Our topsy turvy weather can present some challenges when it comes to our health. Try to eat right, exercise, get proper rest, and dress for the crazy weather as best you can. A good combination of those things will help your body maintain a healthy status. When you find yourself with an illness and it’s something you can’t seem to get rid of, seek out avenues of remedies. Speak to your Pharmacist, contact your Physician, or take yourself to an area Urgent Care facility. Many times, people think the answer is the emergency room at a local hospital, not necessarily. Ask yourselves, is a runny nose and cough a dire emergency? In many situations, it is not. As people tie up personnel in the emergency rooms it creates a snowball effect for the entire emergency response system. Due to the lack of beds or personnel in the emergency room it ties up the ambulance crews as they wait to properly transfer care of their patient to the emergency room staff, that in turn delays an ambulance response to the field. So, the snowball just continues to roll, and the issues continue to grow and the delays for EMS service become longer and longer. If you have read earlier editions of TBT, you can understand why I feel it is important to educate the public on the use of the 911 system. Our department social media often post guidelines for medical calls and gives guidance for recommended actions. The 911 system is not a free medical clinic, and often, the result is the most expensive taxi ride you will ever take. The subject is one that I have strong feelings about and want to help people understand that not all issues require a 911 call. I will get off my soap box on the matter.
Mardi Gras is a little late this year and the first parade hits the streets of Mobile on Friday, February 14th . We hope everyone has a festive carnival season, but we remind you all to be safe in all your activities. Keep up with your children and family members and by all means keep
aware of your surroundings. It only takes a second for a good time to turn into a nightmare. Be safe and have a great Mardi Gras.
Laissez les bon temps rouler!
Chief Byrd