St John's Regional Medical Center Joplin Missouri

[crb613]

My heart goes out to everyone there, as well as all of Joplin. I am watching on the news all the damage done by the tornado.....horrible!

[Sparrowhawk]

With the Red Cross, LPNs will be used as clean up. I was going to sign up and was told I could not function as a Nurse with them. But they were more than happy to have me do clean up in the field.

Lovely. Nice. Well I'm glad I didn't sign up then. No offense, but a nurse is a nurse and I am willing to help with the sick and wounded then that should be good enough.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Lovely. Nice. Well I'm glad I didn't sign up then. No offense, but a nurse is a nurse and I am willing to help with the sick and wounded then that should be good enough.

I don't think they meant with a shovel.......keep the area free of debris, transport and care cleaning of the patients.....

[Sparrowhawk]

I don't think they meant with a shovel.......keep the area free of debris, transport and care cleaning of the patients.....

Hmm maybe. I am a skeptic Still, a nurse should be used as a nurse *shrug* that is just my opinion.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Hmm maybe. I am a skeptic Still, a nurse should be used as a nurse *shrug* that is just my opinion.

In some states yes.....other states no.......some states restrict the practice of an LPN/ LVN.......you are a complete stranger to them and they are in a bad place and don't even have a means to verify your license....I have been in MASS casuality situations although not to this enormity......there are justnot enouh staff let alone nuses to "monitor" an LPN and her meds ect.......they just need hlp. I wish I couold go but I can't as I am in a wheelchair.......I'm sure they didn't meant it as an insult. It's logistics

[CompleteUnknown]

When this is all over, I hope that some nurses from Joplin would consider posting on here about their experiences in great, minute detail. I live in a tornado prone area, we pull pts in the hallways several times a year, but we've never sustained a hit to the hospital.

I want to know exactly how it played out. How did you determine which stairwell was safe to exit? Did each unit send a staff member for recon, or did you just start with the healthiest, walky-talkys and head toward the nearest exit? Did your in hospital mini-cells work? Did you just saline lock everyone and worry about drips, etc after they were out? Did you use stretchers from the ED to get people down the stairs? How many people per patient did that take? What about meds/charts/etc...when you evac pts, was there any possibility of their chart or H&P going with them or could you just not even worry about that? Did anyone go back after the fact and try to obtain charts and records for these pts, or was that not a possibility?

I know from now on, when I pull pts out into the hall, they are going to have their shoes on, they will be covered in a blanket, and will be holding their wallet/purse and a flashlight. I always try to have a flashlight and my personal cell phone on me during a tornado watch or warning, but I never thought about trying to get patients in slippers out of glass-strewn hallways in their slippers (duh, seems like a no brainer, but sometimes I'm stupid). Our administration has heard that flashlights were in short supply, and are purchasing one for each pt room.

What else? What did you need that you wish you had? What aspects of your disaster preparedness were helpful? I know a lot of it will end up being simple common sense and will be specific to your situation, but I still think those of us who have to deal with the possibility of a devastating, catastrophic natural disaster (tornado, hurricane, earthquake, etc) would benefit from hearing the details of your experiences.

Great post Bluegrass, I'd love to know the same things if anyone is able to post about it when everything has settled down.

Thoughts are with everyone in the affected area.

[gentlegiver, ASN, LPN, RN]

I don't think they meant with a shovel.......keep the area free of debris, transport and care cleaning of the patients.....

Actually it was after Katrina. And yes they meant clean up (non-patient related), going out in the field and help move debris, but, absolutely no patient contact. I found that very interesting, as I thought they would be able to check my licence and references before sending me out.

[AtomicWoman]

Great post, Bluegrass, and I agree. If we can learn something about disaster response from this tragedy, maybe other hospitals will be more prepared. I'm guessing it will be a while before any of the nurses involved will be willing or able to post about their experience. I cannot imagine what they are going through, both emotionally and physically. My thoughts are with them.