Clinton Lewis/Daily News Frankfort fire and EMS technician James Nalley looks over the assembly of nearly 30 ambulances gathered Thursday at The Medical Center EMS headquarters on U.S. 31-W By-Pass. FEMA asked the Kentucky Board of EMS to help the Houston area as Hurricane Rita approaches.

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Amy Curran wasn't upset when her husband, Terry, an emergency medical technician with The Medical Center, got a call at 10 p.m. Wednesday asking if he would accompany six co-workers to Conroe, Texas, the next night.

The crew was part of roughly 27 ambulance crews from across Kentucky who set out Thursday evening on a 13-hour journey to help evacuate bedridden patients sitting in nursing homes and hospitals in the path of Hurricane Rita.

Curran, a former Army soldier, was more than happy to make the five-day trip, as were the five other Medical Center EMTs and paramedics. This is the second time in recent weeks that crews have been sent to help in hurricane relief efforts.

"Whatever he decides, I'm behind him 100 percent," Amy Curran said. "The Lord will watch over him and bring him back safe.

"This is a lot easier to deal with than deployment," she added, referring to her husband's nearly year-long stint in Iraq. "I can deal with five days."

The workers will also help bedridden patients in Victoria, Texas, according to Randy Fathbruckner, director of The Medical Center Emergency Medical Services.

"I think everybody in the department would go if we'd let them, but we have to look at our operations here," he said. "We can't let that slack."

The workers left behind will pick up extra shifts and the department will also pull from its auxiliary staff of about 30 people who fill in when needed.

"The ones who are staying behind are being very supportive," Fathbruckner said. "They check on families and spouses if anybody has a problem."

All the ambulance crews going are trained in advanced life support, meaning each one is staffed with a paramedic and an EMT. At least 50 workers are making the trip, which doesn't include support staff like communications and mechanical workers, Fathbruckner said, adding that the group is also taking extra water and food.

"When we go, we try to be as self-sufficient as possible, so we don't have to tax the local resources," he said. "That worked really well when we sent guys down to Louisiana."

Aside from Fathbruckner and Curran, The Medical Center EMS employees making the trip are field operations manager Kim McCarty, paramedic Richard Neighbors, EMT Mike Oberhausen, EMT Steve Coots and paramedic Shane Johnson.

"I assume we're going to be riding (the hurricane) out along with everybody else," Johnson said Thursday afternoon as he waited with co-workers for other counties' ambulance crews to arrive. "We all volunteered. We're all ready to go."