After missing last year’s festival, we must admit that Mardi Gras 2022 was definitely a season for the history books. Thank you, Mobile and visiting friends, for a memorable Mardi Gras Season.

Here’s a look back at MG 2022:

 

BY THE NUMBERS

The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department Special Events teams loaded medical equipment and gear onto bikes, golf carts, mini-ambulances, and rescue trucks, ready to lend aid where needed. For nearly 3 weeks, MFRD responded to varying degrees of emergency and non-emergency need before, during, and immediately after parades rolled.

For the Mardi Gras 2022 Season, Special Events crews responded to 147 total calls, ranging from basic medical problems, exhaustion, ground-level falls, and excessive intoxication to traumatic injuries, falls from floats, and even cardiac arrests. Of the total responses, 45 were transported to area hospitals.

 

STAFFING

For special events, such as Mardi Gras, the Senior Bowl, the Gulf Coast Classic, and the Morgan Wallen concert, MFRD’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Division takes the lead in organizing and planning for staffing emergency medical teams.  

 

From coordinating with event planners to hiring personnel and managing all necessary equipment and supplies, the EMS team painstakingly runs the show behind the scenes. However, a handful of very dedicated (and by the end of Mardi Gras, very tired) crew members cannot possibly manage such a large-scale festival without a little help.

 

Much of the Special Events Division’s success depends on enthusiastic Dozens of MFRD’s firefighters, EMTs, and Paramedics voluntarily signed-up to dedicate their time and skills to the ensured safety of revelers in downtown Mobile.

 

Many of the same faces could be seen on several, different parade days over the course of the carnival season. There’s no coincidence there, either. Those firefighters who work 1 or 2 parades usually love being amongst the revelers as krewes roll along, adding to the already electric energy and vibrant atmosphere.

 

“I enjoy it. I don’t find it too challenging. I like interacting with the public and gettering out there and showing them what we’re all about,” says Paramedic Driver Neil Sherer, as he geared up for his bike team assignment on Fat Tuesday.

 

ONE LAST RIDE

Not only do our firefighters enlist to provide service during festivities, but Mobile Fire-Rescue has been fortunate enough to have the aid of a few of Mobile’s medical doctors. For the last, several years, MFRD’s Special Events teams has been joined by Dr. John McMahon, M.D. and Dr. Donna Lynn Dyess, M.D. Just as they’ve done for many years, the 2 doctors volunteered their time and geared up every day/night that a parade was scheduled to roll. With their legendary call signs “MD 109” and “MD 110,” Dr. McMahon and Dr. Dyess hit the streets of downtown Mobile, responding to every special events dispatch, leading the way for paramedics and EMTs alongside them.

Mardi Gras 2022 was historic for many reasons, but none more significant than the final ride for MD 109. After 31 years as the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department’s Medical Director, Dr. John McMahon will officially be retiring June 30, 2022. For more than 3-decades, the MFRD has operated under the tutelage and medical license of Dr. McMahon. Mobile Fire-Rescue takes pride in providing quality care to Mobile’s citizens and visitors, and that’s in no short part because of the high standards for patient care that Dr. McMahon placed on each of Mobile firefighter through the years.

 

This year, a 3^rd medical doctor donned the reflective vest, bike helmet, and hit the streets on 2 non-motorized wheels. Dr. Jason Eversull, M.D. will be assuming the role of Medical Director effective July 1, 2022.  

 

Though the MFRD is excited about our future with Dr. Eversull, “Dr.Mac” will be missed, and his influence be felt for years to come.

Dr. Eversull proclaims, “You can’t say how much of an influence that he’s had. The influence he had on me – without even knowing it – was a huge reason for why I even got into medicine and chose this path. Taking over for him is a huge honor.”

 

The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department is thankful beyond measure for these three, amazing doctors and their continued support. To have medical doctors volunteer their time, knowledge, and energy during one of North America’s biggest festivals is really a remarkable thing!

 

We are grateful to each of them and our partners in EMS. Thank you to Lifeguard Ambulance and Newman’s Ambulance for providing that extra aid that we needed every night.

 

Special thank you to Chaplain Ed Connick and our volunteer Chaplains for getting up before the break of dawn and preparing such a hearty Fat Tuesday breakfast for our crews. Thank you to Bob’s Downtown Restaurant, Moe’s Original BBQ, and Firehouse Subs for providing much-needed meals during Mardi Gras weekend. Running through the streets of downtown Mobile burns a lot of fuel, and your meals were right on time.

 

Thank you, Mobile, for doing your best to keep each other safe while having a good time and for trusting us to be your help when you needed.

 

Until next Mardi Gras Season, be kind to one another, and let the good times roll.