Bill Frist took off his senator's coat on Saturday and flew for New Orleans as a medical volunteer.
Frist left Washington around 4:30 a.m. Saturday on his private plane. He spent most of the day helping to treat thousands of victims at Louis Armstrong International Airport and the New Orleans Convention Center.
He spoke by phone from a helicopter shuttling him between the two, taking a 45-minute tour above the flooded streets of downtown
The senator spent the day treating diabetics for low blood sugar and dealing with cases of high blood pressure and dehydration. Though he is a surgeon by training, there was no need to perform surgery on Saturday, he said.
After overnighting in Nashville, Tenn., following his day in New Orleans, Frist planned to return to the Gulf Coast on Sunday to work in storm-ravaged areas of Mississippi and Alabama, as well as returning with supplies to New Orleans.
He plans to be back in Washington by the time the Senate reconvenes on Tuesday. He said the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee John Roberts will go forward as planned.
Good show.
Hopefully some other celebrities who are doctors, such as Howard Dean will go down and do the same thing.
