LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Leaving hell behind in Louisiana, New Orleans paramedic Keeley Williams has five days to lose herself amid the welcoming drone of the city's slot machines.
The 39-year-old, who lost everything to Hurricane Katrina, is one of a few dozen first responders granted a moment's reprieve in Las Vegas this week, all expenses paid, with help from local businesses and the Red Cross.
Stepping off an airplane into the desert heat, Williams could relax for the first time in more than a week.
''It's like taking a big, deep breath and being able to exhale,'' she said.
Surrounded by devastation back home, the stress has become too much for those on the front lines. At least two New Orleans police officers have committed suicide. Hundreds of others are unaccounted for, with some simply abandoning their posts.
Hoping to help the city's exhausted emergency workers, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin called the mayors of cities with large numbers of hotel rooms, including Las Vegas and Atlanta, and asked for help. The first group of firefighters and paramedics arrived in Las Vegas late Tuesday.
''We're just relieved to be away and have a sense of normalcy for a few days.'' said Chris Keller, another paramedic with New Orleans EMS.
Nothing has been routine for these men and women since Aug. 29, when Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, followed by flooding that destroyed a large swath of New Orleans.
Williams' entire family, with the exception of an uncle, fled the city. The uncle, who survived by clinging to the roof of his house, later swam by Williams' home in St. Bernard Parish. He told her it was destroyed.
''The material stuff doesn't matter,'' said Williams, still wearing her New Orleans EMS shirt on Wednesday. ''The family is safe.''
But little things, those easily taken for granted like sturdy shoes, can be hard to come by.
''These aren't working,'' said Williams, showing off a pair of flip-flops she picked up at an Old Navy in Baton Rouge, shortly before getting on the plane to Las Vegas. Her water-soaked boots had to be thrown away.
Riding out the storm assigned to a commercial building in east New Orleans, Williams was soon confronted by waters that rose 20 feet and the sound of gunfire erupting outside. She did what she could and joined a group of firefighters who commandeered a boat to help a woman in labor.
Finally evacuated by helicopter Wednesday, Williams had her first opportunity to see what had happened to her city.
''That's really when we saw the destruction,'' she said. ''Everyone started to cry. It was just unreal.''
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman says he hopes the free vacation will allow first responders and their familes time to recharge and prepare for the return home.
''They just need to be able to recover so they can go back and do what the Lord has entrusted them to do,'' Goodman said.
Similar trips were offered to New York firefighters and police officers following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
In Atlanta, police there have been escorting New Orleans officers from the airport and trying to keep them out of the media spotlight.
''We're doing what we can to facilitate their rest and relaxation,'' said Sylvia Abernathy, spokeswoman for the Atlanta Police Department. ''These officers are going back into the trenches in less than a week so we want to leave them alone.''
In Las Vegas, the 44 firefighters, paramedics and family members are only the first of several hundred New Orleans first responders and family expected to arrive in the next few weeks. Hotels have promised rooms. Barry Manilow and the Las Vegas Hilton have donated show tickets. The Red Cross has provided spending cash.
''We're here to have some fun, drink a bit and party a bit,'' Williams said.
But the future looms. Williams is already steeling herself for the return home and the horrors that await her and her colleagues.
''I'm trying to prepare myself for the smell,'' she said.
