Savannah Baus

I came to Tulane University in fall 2020 during peak COVID, and while looking for a productive outlet during social distancing, I discovered Tulane EMS and applied to become an EMT. Growing up in Puerto Rico and living on and in the water most of my life as a PADI rescue diver, I realized I loved helping people and being the first to try and help someone. Working as an EMT throughout my undergrad really opened my eyes to emergency management - I started thinking about how we plan for mass casualty incidents, how we plan environmentally and as a community. That led me to pursue my master's in public health with a focus on disaster management at Tulane. During my master's program, I had the incredible opportunity to intern with Ochsner Health's Super Bowl planning committee when New Orleans hosted the Super Bowl, and after that internship went really well, they offered me a position and I said yes please. Now as System Emergency Management Logistics Specialist at Ochsner Health, I oversee logistics for 47 hospitals and over 400 clinics across the Gulf South and southeast. My day-to-day work includes everything from giving trainings on our high-water vehicle fleet to managing communications and radio systems throughout the state, working with vendors on decontamination partnerships and supplies, and serving as the emergency management liaison for major events like Jazz Fest. I also volunteered with Audubon Nature Institute as an EMT for a year and a half during my master's, and I still volunteer there now as a scuba diver, getting to be in the tanks and help care for the animals. Sometimes I pinch myself because I wake up every day and get to go to work and say, dang, this is pretty cool.