Rita's coming-my hospital won't close!!

oramar · Sep 22, 2005

If you are 4-5 miles from coast and you get hit with 165 mile/hr winds + 30 to 50 ft. surge you might not make it. I can see them keeping institutions that are 50 miles inland open but you are practically on the beach. This is the third biggest storm in US history. Nobody knows what it is like to live through this because nobody alive has.

boulergirl, CNA · Sep 22, 2005

Um, okay...

1.) The fire department has LEFT.

2.) You don't have any patients because THEY left.

3.) There's a Category 5 Superhurricane comin at ya in the next couple of days.

4.) According to the news, signs have been posted in the area, stating that residents who decide to stay, DO SO AT THEIR OWN RISK...

GET THE HECK OUT OF DODGE!!!! :redlight:

sunnyjohn · Sep 22, 2005

I sure hope you are posting from your laptop, Blackberry, or PDA using a wireless connection from your car, on the highway, heading NORTH out of town.

GET OUT! You can always find another job, you have only one life.

Suzesome · Sep 22, 2005

I'm in UK and am appalled to read that you are being forced to stay! If you do stay would your "board of directors" pay compensation to your nearest and dearest? I think not!!! As a nurse you are responsible for your own decisions, and I like the idea of "taking a sickie", surely you can't be sacked for that, just counselled? :angryfire

nursedawn67, LPN · Sep 22, 2005

I agree run like H***! You and everyone down that way are in our thoughts and prayers.

gypsyatheart · Sep 22, 2005

I hope that you are not posting in the last couple of hrs b/c you are running like H*!! Please do not endanger your life, everyone has given great input...I give you kudos for your initial intent, but, geez you all are gonna be the ones who need the help if you don't get outta there!

Please update! Be Safe!

Need all of your input before possibly my last shift here today:
My hospital is about 4-5 blocks from the gulf and right in the path of Rita which is currently 170-175 mph winds.
They keep reporting on TV how the hospitals here are evacuating which they are, our last patient was air lifted out last night.
But...they are making us stay here and ride it out for the stragglers who didn't follow the mandatory evacuation.
We have absolutely no patients in this hospital but they refuse to close it and are keeping our ER open which consequently means that we need OR, ICU, etc. beds open as well.
The storm surge is expected to be quite high.
I'm thinking of leaving here today after my shift is over and evacuating and will probably get fired.
Am I crazy?
What would you all do if you were me?

General E. Speaking, RN, RN · Sep 22, 2005

Well, we're waiting for ya'll and your patients here is SA. Do yourself a favor and call in sick. They are making you risk your life. And what if you get hurt? Is your facility going to help you? Who pays the bills then?
I don't know about you, Houston, but people are just going nuts and not using the sense God gave them.
Houston, we are here, we are praying for you. Please let us know how we can help.

If you are talking about officials being nuts because they are trying to keep the coastal hospitals open- I agree. However, people are trying to leave. I'm not sure if you have round the clock coverage like we do here. I am 30 miles west of Houston in Katy and the traffic situation here is in CRISIS MODE. People are trying to evacuate and there is no gas. They have been on the road for 10, 12, 16 hrs and slowly idling there gas away. It normally takes us 1hr 30 min to get to the beach in Galveston. A lady on the news left Galveston at noon and was just getting to Katy at 0530 in a.m. that's 17 hrs! Early this a.m. people were in fist fights at the gas pumps in Katy trying to fill-up. People are getting out of their vehicles and literally walking. TXDOT is trying to open up the inbound lanes for outbound traffic. Homeland security is talking about sending gas this way because there are drivers stranded all along every major freeway headed out of Houston. They are saying now that if you haven't evacuated now it probably isn't going to be worth it because chances are you will run out of gas before you get there. I am scheduled to work fri-sun (12 hr shifts) Our hospital has invited our families to stay at the hosptial, so I am taking my daughter with me. You can only bring pets in a carrier- we have 4 pets and 2 carriers. Most of the people I have talked to here in Katy are staying. We are not in a flood prone area and no mandatory evac. has been issued here. Please pray for everyone in our area.

gypsyatheart · Sep 22, 2005

nola, I am so sorry to hear of your experience!How traumatic for you...I hope you are doing OK now!

:kiss

You are not crazy! I was one of the unfortunate ones who worked in a New Orleans hospital during Katrina. I am also pregnant and have never regretted a decision so much in my life! I was set to lose my job as well and evacuate, but my mom and sister talked me into working so I could keep my insurance. There was a point when I thought we would all die! It turned into a survival situation and we didn't have the resources to care for our patients. I am still traumatized! Do what you feel you need to do. You are a nurse and can get another job anywhere! Good luck!

gypsyatheart · Sep 22, 2005

Prayers are with you....So sorry this happenning....again! Be safe.

If you are talking about officials being nuts because they are trying to keep the coastal hospitals open- I agree. However, people are trying to leave. I'm not sure if you have round the clock coverage like we do here. I am 30 miles west of Houston in Katy and the traffic situation here is in CRISIS MODE. People are trying to evacuate and there is no gas. They have been on the road for 10, 12, 16 hrs and slowly idling there gas away. It normally takes us 1hr 30 min to get to the beach in Galveston. A lady on the news left Galveston at noon and was just getting to Katy at 0530 in a.m. that's 17 hrs! Early this a.m. people were in fist fights at the gas pumps in Katy trying to fill-up. People are getting out of their vehicles and literally walking. TXDOT is trying to open up the inbound lanes for outbound traffic. Homeland security is talking about sending gas this way because there are drivers stranded all along every major freeway headed out of Houston. They are saying now that if you haven't evacuated now it probably isn't going to be worth it because chances are you will run out of gas before you get there. I am scheduled to work fri-sun (12 hr shifts) Our hospital has invited our families to stay at the hosptial, so I am taking my daughter with me. You can only bring pets in a carrier- we have 4 pets and 2 carriers. Most of the people I have talked to here in Katy are staying. We are not in a flood prone area and no madatory evac. has been issued here. Please pray for everyone in our area.

nursemomruns · Sep 22, 2005

Curious question? Where is the person that mandated that you must stay? Are they already in Houston?

Good question

grannynurse FNP student · Sep 22, 2005

First, while Rita is a Cat 5, right now, she will weaken before making landfall, just like Charlie did. Two of our hospitals, located in Charlotte County, took direct hits from him and lost their roofs. And suffered rain damage. Within 12 hours our ERs were up and running. However, we were not located on an island. Galvestan is and accessable only by bridge. As an ICU/ER nurse, one has a responsibility to one's self and one's professional.

This being said, I will share with you what my daughter has to say on this situation. She is considered essential personnel however, if Rita was coming, she would leave. And her advice, to you, is to leave. She would tell her supervisor that she would return as soon as humanly possible, after Rita had passed. And she would make sure that she took every piece of ID to identify herself to gain readmittance. I love and respect my daughter but I disagree with her on this point.

Grannynurse

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Sep 22, 2005

I like the idea of "taking a sickie", surely you can't be sacked for that, just counselled? :angryfire

While I think that the OP should leave if she wishes, she does risk losing her job by doing so. But quite bluntly, I would rather lose my job than my life, and she is way too close to danger.

If you review threads on Charley/Frances/Jeanne of last year, you will indeed find where nurses have lost their jobs for not permitting themselves to be "locked" in to their facility during a hurricane.

There were nurses that were on vacation (arranged well ahead of hurricane season) that were requested to cancel and return, or face possibly being fired.

And as the poster is from Texas, there is the risk of being "blacklisted" on the Group One website, which would impair her ability to get another job.

What needs to be done is some regulation regarding emergency/hospital staffing in the case of mandatory evacuation. The fact that there were several NO hospitals that were dealt major blows, demonstrate that management does not always act with its eyes towards the health and safety of staff and patients.