What do you honestly think you would have done?

[DutchgirlRN]

What do you think of the nursing home where 32 of the patients were left to drown? If you did everything you could to save whoever you could save would you have swam to the roof once the entire home was flooded and you could not save anyone else? I really can't fault anyone for saving themselves once they have done everything they could do to save patients. What do you think you would have done?

The owners were seen shopping in Mississippi and the authorities believe they are trying to get out of the country. I hope they can be caught and prosecuted. According to one of the family members they assured the families that the patients would be fine, they had an evacuation plan in place, had buses ready and when the worse happened denied they needed an additional help. They were able to escape to the roof, get on a boat and then disappear.

[RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN]

I fault the owners for not evacuating them. I don't fault anyone for saving their own life. Instinct is to save your own life. I would do the same.

I agree with this. Lesson learned is that you should never be too confident, and should follow orders promptly too.

[directcare4me]

They just announced on Fox news that the Louisiana state attorney general is charging the owners of this nursing home with 34 (or 32?) counts of involuntary manslaughter. At first they said "owners and staff", and that Judge Napolitano said, when asked by John Gibson if staff are required to stay until they themselves die, that yes, that's part of choosing to do "this kind of work". Don't think I can agree with that.

But a few minutes later, they clarified it and said only the owners would be charged. So, I don't know for sure what's true.

[Antikigirl, ASN, RN]

I will be totally honest...I would triage the best I could in this situation and get the heck out with whomever I could to anywhere if I could. If not, and I had to choose between my patients and myself...well, myself comes first..I am no good to future patients or my family if I am dead!

BUT could I live with having to leave people behind...NO! It would emotionally kill me! THe only thing I could do is try my hardest given the circumstances to try to get help or help as much as I could as I made my way to safety!

But then again I would have proably would have called EMS or started moving folks despite the okay BEFORE the storm hit..but that is just me. I don't take chances...and I don't care if I got sued or whatnot..I would have taken as many out as I could have before it hit..or asked for assistance with EMS (whom will have to save them if I couldn't get help..so in their best interest) BEFORE HAND!

[purplemania, BSN, RN]

I worked in a tertiary hospital once with EXTREMELY sick kids (transplants, burn, cardiac surgery---very sick). We were told if a full evacuation became necessary to concentrate on the child that had the most likelihood of surviving. Sometimes choices have to be made. I do not know about this story in LA but hope there were bad choices not bad decisions responsible.

[DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN]

The owners of St.Rita's nursing home turned themselves into today. They were each charged with 34 counts of negligent homicide. Again Fox News reported that the owners were told to evacuate, they had an ambulance service hired and were even contacted by St.Bernard's Parrish asking if they needed additional help evacuating and the owners said no they had everything under control. They were both released under their own recognisence, no bail. St Bernard's Parrish (County) doesn't have any means to keep them behind bars at this time.

[StNeotser, ASN, RN]

They just announced on Fox news that the Louisiana state attorney general is charging the owners of this nursing home with 34 (or 32?) counts of involuntary manslaughter. At first they said "owners and staff", and that Judge Napolitano said, when asked by John Gibson if staff are required to stay until they themselves die, that yes, that's part of choosing to do "this kind of work". Don't think I can agree with that.

But a few minutes later, they clarified it and said only the owners would be charged. So, I don't know for sure what's true.

So are fireman supposed to also stay and die with people in burning buildings until they themselves die?

I think the media may be making a little too much of this story, that these people were left to die by the staff. Having heard a couple of staff accounts on CNN talking to Nancy Grace, it does appear that at least some staff there were doing their best to evacuate after a poor management decision was made.

[xrockstheheart]

the good part is that you won't have to wait long for this to repeat itself, and many of you will have the opportunity to see what you will do. Do any of you think that NO should be rebuild in a flood prone area? The people in BR should be able to take over the New Orleans tourist business and save lives in the process because it's early in the hurricane season and it will happen again. many of those people stayed back because they didn't believe it would be that bad and is so doing endangered their children and the lives of those rescue workers that went to get them when they started to whine. some of those people like the nsg home had to be evacuated but hey they don't vote and the mayor had other priorities, their representative went back and delayed the rescue efforts so he could pick up some things for his family while his own people lay dying. I don't know would you volunteer for this? Would you volunteer for a place where people are risking life and limb to bring water and nurses are throwing it in the river to cleanse the river?

I was going to post this to another thread a day or two ago, had trouble creating a new user name and now cannot find that post but, since you asked-

I gave it a lot of thought during the whole debate here and even before reading about the doctor at Charity I was sure that I'd save who I could, over medicate those I couldn't, and get out for my family's sake.

No good choice, in any situation I'd probably die feeling guilty.

[sjb2005]

All you can do is, what you can do. Life is survival of the fitest. Loss of life is a fact. Take a class in environmental science and the eco system. Believe that those unfortunate to lose their lives under your watch was meant to be and their life will be far more rewarding than here. If you have honestly done everything in your power to save a life, then you can rest without adverse conscience. Shelly

[lee1]

What about the hospitals in New Orleans that did NOT evacuate their patients knowing that a Cat 5 was staring them in the face????

What are the stories from the nurses there?? Were they mandated to stay??

Where were the generators located, above ground level??? Why didn't they have enough fuel???

Has anyone heard the truth of these stories??

[sunnyjohn]

What about the hospitals in New Orleans that did NOT evacuate their patients knowing that a Cat 5 was staring them in the face????

What are the stories from the nurses there?? Were they mandated to stay??

Where were the generators located, above ground level??? Why didn't they have enough fuel???

Has anyone heard the truth of these stories??

Well according to the doctor left in charge at Charity hospital in NOLA, they did try to evacuate as many people as possible BEFORE the storm hit.

Charity's situation is unique. Since thay are the primary county facility in New Orelans even if they had gotten every patient out, they would still have stayed open to take care of people wounded during the storm. The scary part was other hospitals in the area DUMPED patients on Charity Hopsital. The patients DUMPED where the ones that were the ones ost difficult to evacuate.

The doctor in charge during the storm reports that before Katrina hit upwards of 10 patients on ventilators where DUMPED on them by other hopsitals and facilities in the AREA, some with little to no medical records.

That just chaps my behind. :angryfire

[Chad_KY_SRNA]

The CNN video that I have seen, shot by Dr. Sanjay Gupta and his crew showed that the patients from Memorial Medical Center were given priority on the rooftop of the Memorial Medical Center parking lot where helicopters landed to move patients from both hospitals. I can't imagine the horror of a week in a hospital without anything. I mean they had some supplies but that was it. They couldn't evacuate by ground ambulance due to the flood, the generators worked for a while and then they were in the dark, bagging all patients that had been on vents, no labs, no x-rays, no moniters, and no idea when help was coming. I would have done my best and when it was all over I would have sat down and cried for hours. I saw something on here about dying patients being given lethal overdoses of meds at hospitals in the New Orleans area, some have argued that its murder but its triage, you can't waste limited staff, supplies, and resources that can be used on someone who will definately live. Sounds pretty cold and heartless but you have to save those that you can and those that you can't save..... God be with them and their families. Its like I said, when it was over and done I would have cried for a very long time. You are the only help that these people have for days, you would just have to keep it together until the patients were evacuated. The nursing home situation makes me sick, the hurricane passed and everything looked ok and then the levee broke and all of this water floods the nursing home. They thought they had survived the storm. This same facility had survived 25 years without any such incident. I can't imagine being inside of that building, thinking the worst was over and then having to fight for my life and those of my residents as the water rose very rapidly.

[barefootlady, ADN, RN]

I cried and cried when I watched this on the news. I kept thinking of my GM and I thanked God for his mercy in allowing me to not be placed in the situations these nurses, CNA's and other staff faced. I know the owners are guilty of poor judgement, neglience, and manslaughter but if they are charged with murder then a whole lot of other officials need to be charged as well.