Florida

versatile_kat · Aug 13, 2004

I used to work at Tampa General Hospital and several of my friends still work there. From what they tell me, they've been told to bring a change of clothes and plan on spending the night (mainly because the bridge that leads to the hospital, which is on an island, gets flooded whenever there's a large downpour). They aren't evacuating any patients. Not too sure about any of the smaller hospital's in the area. TGH is the only level 1 hospital around.

redshiloh · Aug 13, 2004

Pray God protect all in the path of this storm....

pedineuronurse · Aug 13, 2004

i work in a south florida hospital. this is how our plan works:

once our area (miami-dade county) is placed under hurricane warning our plan goes into effect, and all normal scheduling is called off. our plan consists of two teams, one works during the storm (team A) and one for after (team B). team B comes in once the warning is in effect and relieves team A so they can board up their homes, and gather their belongings and any family members they have signed up for the shelter (our facility serves as a shelter). once team A returns team B goes home to wait out the storm, once the storm ends team B is to come to the hospital as soon as they can (sometime the roads are blocked, so it can take a while) and team A can return home.

i hope that makes sense. as far as the hospital closing and being evacuated none down here close, that i know of. our hospitals are built under strict codes to withstand hurricane force winds. we also have back-up generators for any life-support machines, etc.

hope that answers some of you questions.

KRivRN · Aug 14, 2004

It's the same here in jacksonville. I'm team A but i'm really happy that i didn't get called in today!! The way it works is that Team A discharges as many pts as safely possible and stays in the hospital for up to 48 hours. Then they are relieved by team B. We are able to bring our family and pets to the hospital so that they are safe too.