It happened at the worst possible time, and scores of first responders and volunteers all stepped up. There should be heaps of praise for everyone who helped evacuate 183 residents of a Voorhees Township nursing home Sunday after its air conditioning failed.
The temperature outside was 98 degrees, and the “feels-like” component was well over 100. Seemingly, all of Camden County’s emergency infrastructure was pressed into service as patients and residents of the Voorhees Care and Rehabilitation Center had to be transferred to various alternative locations under the scorching circumstances. While most were taken promptly to an air-conditioned section of nearby Eastern Regional High School, a score or more needed special accommodations, including ongoing medical treatment or monitoring. Some residents are bed-ridden or need wheel chairs. One reportedly was taken directly to a local hospitals; others to nearby nursing homes.