October storm
Health-care worker recalls drive to work
by JESSICA L FINCH Associate Editor

Fred Barber had a decision to make on the morning of Friday, Oct. 13 - he could either stay home or attempt the trek to the Heathwood facility on Hopkins Road where he is a unit manager.

He chose to get on the road.

After keeping an eye on the storm throughout the night, Barber wondered how his staff would get to the ElderWood facility to care for the residents.

The manager for Unit 1 at Heathwood, Barber said it could be a matter of life and death for some of the residents if they did not get the care they need, even for that one day.

He added that the facility has an emergency snow plan in place but never was it implemented so early in the season.

"I have 60 residents to take care of. A lot of those people need a great deal of medical care," Barber said.

Barber's normal 20-minute commute from North Tonawanda took an hour, and hearing his story, one could wonder how he ever made it. Flooding, full trees in the road and downed power lines at every turn.

When he left his home at 5 a.m., there were still blizzard-like conditions.

"As I made my first turn on the road I had to stop because the entire street was flooded," he said. "I took another road and met a police officer who told me to go back as there was a driving ban, and almost all roads were impassable. I explained where I worked, and he let me pass."

Barber then tried several roads only to be stopped by downed trees. He kept trying different routes and luckily, despite spinning his vehicle around four times, he avoided going into a ditch.

"Finally, I made it to Tonawanda Creek Road only to find trees down with wires on them. I had to choose to go home or go through the obstructions," he said. "I went through but got tangled in branches and wires."

Freeing his truck, he continued on his trip, hitting low wires. When he arrived at work, maintenance workers Mark Schasel and Jeff Young told Barber that one wire was caught on the truck; not knowing if it had been pulled from the building and was still connected, the men carefully freed the power line.

As expected, Heathwood was understaffed for that Friday, but the overnight shift from the previous day pitched in for another shift. He said the staff is very dedicated and reported when they were able, including the Activities Leader Lily Rui who walked nearly two miles in the storm to assist the residents.

With the power out, Heathwood's backup system kicked into gear. Barber said the generators allowed for limited use but the facility had lights, hot meals and heat.

"We had to be more creative, but there were ways to deal with it," he said.

Barber, who works with dementia and subacute patients, said the residents depend on routines, and having them disrupted made for a challenging day.

"The maintenance staff were the real heroes," he said about meeting the needs of the 140 residents.

Medications were distributed, meals were served and no injuries were reported. Throughout the day more and more staff were able to make it to Heathwood and at 9 p.m., Barber left for home.

His hometown was a disaster area, he said. Trees were everywhere, and there was no heat or electricity. Barber's wife Alice, a physician's assistant for the VA Hospital, also went into work on Oct. 13.

Returning from a full day of work, both responded to their neighborhood's needs - including making the rounds with a chain saw to help cut tree limbs.

"This will be a day I will always remember," Barber said.

e-mail: jfinch@beenews.com