Heroic efforts made at Charity hospital to save patients
07:14 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Associated Press
As floodwaters rose around Charity Hospital, nurses hand-pumped ventilators for patients who couldn't breathe. Helicopters landed on the garage to airlift critically ill babies. Doctors canoed supplies to and from Charity and three nearby hospitals.
Here is a post from a hospital worker on another BB.
Hi again. I am at Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, MS. (60 miles east of New Olreans in Harrison County, MS) We have no outside communication except via email due to underground cables. I don't know where to start. I have only slept about 8 hours since 10/11am on Sunday morning. I have worked like never before. I can be thankful that we have our own well, running water, electricity, and internet. Our generator power nor food supply is expected to last past Thursday morning. I am sure we will get supplies, but it will be tight.
On Sunday morning, I left for work with 3 pairs of scrubs, socks and undergarments, a battery powered alarm clock, an Ann Rice novel and a small supply of food in my bookbad. These are now the only item I own. I was able to leave the hospital for a few hours during which time I went to check on my house and the family that I have that were still in town. My house in Bay St. Louis, MS, was completely filled with water and all of my belongings are destroyed. I have not been able to contact my boyfriend of five years. I have circulated his description and will try to locate him tomorrow if I have my releif show up.
My relief was in Atlanta, GA. She is my cousin. She called her mother who is in the northern part of the state and told her that she was stuck in Hattiesburg, MS (1.5 hours north of the hospital) because there was no gas to be purchased anywhere. Her mother emailed me at midnight and told me that as of an hour ago, she siphoned gas out of an abandoned vehicle to continue her trip. The gas she siphoned may still not be enough to get her here. Her mother said that she is now out of cell phone contact. The people who are able to use their cell phones get a verizon wireless message stating the at it will cost 2.99 to activate and 1.99 a minute to talk. We have been able to get a few outside phone calls to the hospital, but the phone lines are very messed up. We are able to use the phones for interhospital communication.
I spent part of my four hours outside today locating dead bodies and tying a red, plastic ribbon to the closest tree. Helicopters blades are a constant reminder as well as the blackness that surrounds me.
As far as anything being operational, it will be months before my hospital is restored. We have a lot of structural damage. The windows in the patient rooms and along the south (beach facing) side blew out. We had to put our patients in the hallway during the storm. We are now taking in so many people it is unreal. We are discharging patients and putting them on the floor in the cafeteria just so we can have the bed to put a new patient in. I have seen so many people who were submerged in water for hours. People are coming to the hospital because they have no where else to go. It will take several weeks just to restore sanitary conditions here, but it will take months to become fully functional and years to rebuild...
Watching the news this morning - it appears people are starting to pour into shelters in places like Houston and Dallas - they have run out of money for hotels and have nowhere to go. We may be needed more in our own cities - at least those nearby - to take care of refugees and help with shelters here... Wherever they want me to go is fine. Im sure many of those people have limited medications, financial resources and are in great distress...Can you imagine losing your home, your job, your posessions and possibly even your family and friends? Incomprehensible...
The kind of flooding they got was not expected...nobody can make a decision based on hindsight. If you have a crystal ball, feel free to share it in the future.
How awful it must be in the south; like every disaster movie you ever went to see. What really touched me is that once it's all said and done, these people are not going to have anything, no home, no belongings, and worse, no jobs. Anytime I feel sorry for myself I have to remind myself that those people are worse off than I have ever been. And to think there are people that are so evil that they would loot stores or rob the refugees. I don't get what they think they are doing looting jewelry stores and such. Where are they going to go to sell them? :angryfire It's just disgusting! My heart breaks when I think of my fellow nurses down there in Louisiana and Mississippi. Bless all the nurses who are working hard to take care of the refugees that have flooded to your areas. Sorry this is such a rambling post. Just kind of putting my thoughts down as they come. Again, God bless and watch over all.
Have some compassion--it's no longer about what "they should have done". It's about what can we do to help them now--some of those people were too poor to have a way to get out of there ahead of time-if anybody should have done anything to help get those people out ahead of time--it should be our federal government! Oh, wait--our president was on vacation at his ranch--guess he couldn't have been bothered.
Does every cotton picking thing have to turn political? Your first comment about compassion was right on target. The last was unnecessary and ill-informed. Bush has been on the phone with many state and local officials in the affected areas trying to determine what will kinds of aid will be most effective. He plans to travel there when his presence will be a help and not a distraction. His time in Crawford was a working vacation with many meetings and interruptions and, in light of the events down south, he has returned to DC early. You may not like the man or his choices but to say he "couldn't have been bothered" to help people is not right.
As far as the federal government trying to "help those people out ahead of time," what would you have had them do that the state governments were not already working on? The feds can't just step in and take over. They have to be asked by the state government for assistance. And what would the states have asked for? Additional help with evacuation? A mass exodus is difficult enough when people have their own transportation. When the government takes on the job of moving thousands, they have to have someplace to go with them. And since it is nearly impossible to predict the exact landfall of a hurricane, the distances involved to insure safety would have been tremendous. Evacuation is not without risks of its own. And there would be some who, no doubt, would complain about government interference and the outrageous costs involved, especially if the threat had diminished at the last minute.
Fema is joining with the Red Cross and other agencies to mount the greatest relief effort in the history of the US. The Navy is bringing in ships and barges. The Army Corps. of Engineering is helping to repair the breached levees. I'm sure many other government groups will make sizeable contributions. The federal government will not save everyone. But that won't be for lack of effort.
I wish I could go down personally, but since I can't, I am going to turn a big part of my next paycheck over to the Salvation Army and the Red Cross. I know both of these organizations are legit and do not have disproportionate overhead costs.
When I watch the news, I think of pregnant moms, parents with little ones, and older people who may not have the heart (or the resources) to start over again. I wonder about all the pets who may not seem important in the grand scheme of things but who matter very much to their families. I worry about all of those folks who need meds and O2 and various kinds of therapy. The list goes on. I have two young grandsons in wheelchairs--what would my daughter do if she were caught in such a nightmare?
I was glad when both the Lt. Gov. of Lousiana and another top official announce on national new that they had declared a day of prayer. God's power can magnify human efforts.
My prayers are certainly with the hurricane victims.
As far as the federal government trying to "help those people out ahead of time," what would you have had them do that the state governments were not already working on? The feds can't just step in and take over. They have to be asked by the state government for assistance. And what would the states have asked for? Additional help with evacuation? A mass exodus is difficult enough when people have their own transportation. When the government takes on the job of moving thousands, they have to have someplace to go with them. And since it is nearly impossible to predict the exact landfall of a hurricane, the distances involved to insure safety would have been tremendous. Evacuation is not without risks of its own. And there would be some who, no doubt, would complain about government interference and the outrageous costs involved, especially if the threat had diminished at the last minute.
Fema is joining with the Red Cross and other agencies to mount the greatest relief effort in the history of the US. The Navy is bringing in ships and barges. The Army Corps. of Engineering is helping to repair the breached levees. I'm sure many other government groups will make sizeable contributions. The federal government will not save everyone. But that won't be for lack of effort.
Miranda
You are exactly right. Federal resources were lined up prior to the hurricane to be ready to go. My Dad spent many years with the National Red Cross in the disaster control center before he retired - he now does consulting. It is such an enormous task to take on.
Those that had the means and could have gotten out - should have. It will be hard enough to get those out that had no choice to stay. And I'm not trying to be nasty. Just trying to point out why mandatory evacuations are declared. It lessens those that need saving and it lessens the danger to rescue personal.
Those that are victimizing those already affected should be ashamed of themselves. I can't imagine how anyone could be that low.
That being said, my prayers to all those affected and to all those who are helping. This is the time to pull together. I don't think I have much in the bank right now until pay day, but I'm going to make a donation to help out.
A licensed nurse from another state who is in Texas on a non-routine basis for a period not to exceed 72 hours to provide care to a patient being transported into, out of, or through Texas does not have to apply for a Texas license nor notify the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners.
Temporary Privilege to Practice
For Nurses from Louisiana and other non-compact states needing to enter Texas to transport patients and/or work temporarily due to Hurricane Katrina for more than 72 hours must do the following:
Show a clear and current state license to the employer or healthcare facility.
Complete a paper copy temporary license/endorsement application and fax to: (512) 305-7401 to the attention of Mark Majek. Write "Hurricane Katrina" on top of the application. There will be no fee nor the requirement to provide a verification of licensure from your state(s) of licensure.
The nurse will be issued a letter of temporary practice for 120 days. The Texas Board will conduct a post application verification from your state(s) of licensure.
To verify temporary privilege to practice in Texas due to Hurricane Katrina, you or the employer/healthcare facility can email [email protected] or contact Mark Majek at (512) 305-6801.
Thank you so much for this information. My family and I are sitting in a Dallas hotel running out of money and wondering what to do. My job was in New Orleans and Slidell. So much for that. I have no idea if I still have a house or not because I can't get any information about the small town of Picayune, Mississippi where I live. But if I can get a job working as a nurse here in Dallas, it will go a long way towards paying the bills. Thanks a lot.
I am sorry but this is almost ridiculous. These hospitals had plenty of warning of this potential category 5 hurricaine and they CHOSE NOT to evauste their patients??????? I really cannot understand and imagine the lawsuits waiting to happen !!!
Common sense must not have prevailed.
Why didn't they evacuate?? Did some but not others???
Really, no matter whether they evacuated or not, there would be some lawsuits waiting.
When word came down that a Cat5 storm was coming, the highways were already flooded with those fleeing the storm. Highways were bumper to bumper to Houston. On the roads North, traffic was a little less but it would have also been merely evacuating one bad site to potentially another bad site (something learned most recently from Charley - people evacuated merely to find themselves back in the path of the storm when it turned). Virtually every major area north of New Orleans in the area would be expecting flooding and problems, especially if the storm did not break up when it hit land (something learned from Andrew, which stayed strong well into land on Florida).
There were Nursing home patients that died because of the evacuation, which took much longer due to the crowded highways. What would happen with ambulances getting stuck in traffic...slowing down transfer...patients die...and the families sue over that?
Especially had Katrina not done as much damage as it did.
Do you have any vague idea how hard it is to evacuate huge amounts of ICU and other critically ill patients in the severe heat/humidity? Not to mention that (correct me if I am wrong), there are several teaching hospitals in that area. This also means that many of the patients are the harder/more delicate cases. There are limits as to where you can safely transfer these patients...many of them cannot just go to the local community hospital...also being overloaded with their own issues.
I don't even see how they are going to have enough staff to properly transfer them. There will have to be specialty staff in every ambulance/transport vehicle/plane/boat/helicopter. Trying getting all of those people into the facility when they are trying to get their families to safety, get to the hospital in heavy traffic, batten down the hatches before the storm.
If nothing, now when they get out of the immediate area, they will not be dealing with traffic from masses of evacuaees. But they will have the debris.
It is never easy to decide to evacuate, especially a teaching hospital. But please don't try to second guess without knowing all the details. I am sure that the powers that be are doing plenty of investigation on the details.
I'm not going to dig deep into what should have happened and what didn't happen but all I know is this. Hospitals in a very vulnerable area to hurricanes and flooding should have a plan. It didn't matter if it was a Cat 5, 4, or even 3. NOLA, MS, and AL were all in the cone for a major hurricane on Friday. That was 3 days warning. When your hospital is surrounded by water, you should have a plan. Cape Canaveral Hospital in Florida is surrounded by water as well. It was evacuated for Frances and Jeanne (Cat 2 and 3 storms, respectively). So it IS possible to move patients. It is an enormous undertaking, but with 2-3 days notice it possibly could have happened. They didn't need to evacuate to a far away city, just to some place at or above sea level!
My heart breaks for everyone affected by this storm. Especially all the emergency workers and public servants who are risking their lives every minute, and at the same time they have lost everything.
I'm not going to dig deep into what should have happened and what didn't happen but all I know is this. Hospitals in a very vulnerable area to hurricanes and flooding should have a plan. It didn't matter if it was a Cat 5, 4, or even 3. NOLA, MS, and AL were all in the cone for a major hurricane on Friday. That was 3 days warning. When your hospital is surrounded by water, you should have a plan. Cape Canaveral Hospital in Florida is surrounded by water as well. It was evacuated for Frances and Jeanne (Cat 2 and 3 storms, respectively). So it IS possible to move patients. It is an enormous undertaking, but with 2-3 days notice it possibly could have happened. They didn't need to evacuate to a far away city, just to some place at or above sea level!
My heart breaks for everyone affected by this storm. Especially all the emergency workers and public servants who are risking their lives every minute, and at the same time they have lost everything.
The mere size difference should answer everyone's question. Or at least it does mine. Discharging and evacuating a community hospital, is much easier then doing the same for teaching hospitals, which is what the New Orleans hospitals were. And, it is my understanding, these hospitals were quite safe until the failure of the leeve system. A failure that happen AFTER Katrina hit and passed thru. And one should remember, moving frail, dangerously ill patients because the facility might be impacted has its risks as well, including death. Hindsight is always much better then foresight.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Thank you so much for this information. My family and I are sitting in a Dallas hotel running out of money and wondering what to do. My job was in New Orleans and Slidell. So much for that. I have no idea if I still have a house or not because I can't get any information about the small town of Picayune, Mississippi where I live. But if I can get a job working as a nurse here in Dallas, it will go a long way towards paying the bills. Thanks a lot.
My heart and thoughts go out to you. You are truly in my most earnest prayers. Bless you all.
sunnyjohn
2,450 Posts
Here is a post from a hospital worker on another BB.
You can read the post here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=2916641&postcount=43
The entire thread can be read here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=224654&page=1&pp=20