Help this Mount Vernon paramedic send water filters to Puerto Rico

After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, paramedic Joel Pratt didn’t wait long to take his life-saving skills to the Caribbean.

“When we first flew in it was apparent the devastation was great,” Pratt told KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don. “Not only the buildings, but the infrastructure. We initially landed in San Juan and got deployed into these smaller communities. Once we got up into the mountains it was just devastation; infrastructure, roads, power, communications, water. Houses were ripped apart, roofs ripped off.”

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Pratt was deployed to Puerto Rico with a team of medical professionals. He may have returned to his Mount Vernon community, but his work continues. He says that many of the areas away from the cities are still in bad shape, without power or utilities. People were drinking from streams. But without utilities, they can’t boil or filter water. Many of the hospitals were on generator power. It was made more complicated by the ongoing conditions there.

“We had mudslides every single day, flash floods every single day, which hampered any deliveries of water, fuel and any humanitarian assistance while we were up in that area,” he said.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money to buy water filters. They have a $25,000 goal. Pratt hopes to return to Puerto Rico soon to continue the work and distribute the filters.

“When we left, we left a piece of our heart down in Puerto Rico,” Pratt said. “Those people are now our friends and family.”