WEBVTT

00:00.009 --> 00:02.130
I'm hearing all about this event ,

00:02.190 --> 00:04.357
everyone in the community about what's

00:04.357 --> 00:06.301
gonna be going on . So to tell the

00:06.301 --> 00:08.301
story , we got to go back about two

00:08.301 --> 00:10.357
years . So about two years ago , the

00:10.357 --> 00:12.357
city of Monroe and the city of West

00:12.357 --> 00:14.468
Monroe in a joint application through

00:14.468 --> 00:16.523
the Delta Regional Authority reached

00:16.523 --> 00:20.159
out to host a medical I RT . What is an

00:20.170 --> 00:23.610
I RT ? What does that stand for ? So it

00:23.620 --> 00:25.739
stands for innovative readiness

00:25.750 --> 00:29.159
training . It is a training exercise

00:29.170 --> 00:32.319
for the US military's medical personnel ,

00:33.180 --> 00:35.470
innovative readiness training . It's an

00:35.479 --> 00:38.419
opportunity for the military that we

00:38.430 --> 00:40.652
already spend money on training to team

00:40.652 --> 00:42.708
up with a community and provide some

00:42.708 --> 00:44.900
needs that they have . When we say no

00:44.909 --> 00:47.076
cost , it's tax , your tax dollars are

00:47.076 --> 00:49.569
paying for this . But the tax dollars

00:49.580 --> 00:51.747
that you pay into this , they come out

00:51.747 --> 00:55.630
10 fold . One of the reasons I joined

00:55.639 --> 00:57.806
the Guard is because we care about the

00:57.806 --> 00:59.806
communities we're in . So this is a

00:59.806 --> 01:02.028
great opportunity for me to actually go

01:02.028 --> 01:03.917
out to a community that needs the

01:03.917 --> 01:03.849
services and we can help provide them .

01:06.809 --> 01:08.865
The military is incurring all of the

01:08.865 --> 01:11.239
costs . And we're looking at when it's

01:11.250 --> 01:13.306
all said and done about a $5 million

01:13.306 --> 01:15.472
investment from a US military into our

01:15.472 --> 01:17.919
community . They selected our , our

01:17.930 --> 01:19.819
area . We've been working on this

01:19.819 --> 01:23.389
project for well over a year now . And

01:23.400 --> 01:25.678
it means a great deal to the community .

01:25.678 --> 01:27.639
The population here is medically

01:27.650 --> 01:29.594
underserved so they might not have

01:29.594 --> 01:31.706
access or can be able to afford these

01:31.706 --> 01:33.928
services . So we get to provide them at

01:33.928 --> 01:33.910
no cost to the community .

01:38.750 --> 01:40.861
One thing that really stood out to me

01:40.861 --> 01:43.028
is we had one patient that came in one

01:43.028 --> 01:45.194
day and had seven people . And when he

01:45.194 --> 01:47.361
left out of here , he was smiling from

01:47.361 --> 01:49.472
here to here , which is surprising to

01:49.472 --> 01:48.940
me because I would be miserable . But

01:48.949 --> 01:50.838
he was so happy to have had these

01:50.838 --> 01:52.949
services provided because he couldn't

01:52.949 --> 01:55.116
afford them . So it means a great deal

01:55.116 --> 01:57.338
of the service members to be here to be

01:57.338 --> 02:00.550
able to help the community . Well ,

02:00.559 --> 02:02.448
good news for Washington Parish .

02:02.448 --> 02:04.503
Military service members are in town

02:04.503 --> 02:06.670
providing free medical services to the

02:06.670 --> 02:08.910
public at two different locations in

02:08.919 --> 02:09.449
the area

02:26.570 --> 02:28.737
halfway through the Cairo , Illinois ,

02:28.737 --> 02:30.737
I RT the mayor and I looked at each

02:30.737 --> 02:32.681
other . So we have to do this inha

02:32.681 --> 02:35.039
parish , no cost medical care for uh

02:35.050 --> 02:37.440
nine days straight at the Monroe Civic

02:37.449 --> 02:39.393
Center and the Westboro Convention

02:39.393 --> 02:41.393
Center . I'm all about this event .

02:41.429 --> 02:42.809
Everyone in the community .