Hospitals Across Flooded New Orleans Face Deteriorating Conditions
MSNBC has a great story
about the efforts hospitals are taking to care for patients in an
adverse situation. Pervasive flooding in New Orleans has cut power to
hospitals creating a need to transfer acute patients somewhere dry,
while new patients continue to come in through Emergency Departments.
Charity's backup generator was running out of diesel fuel. Nurses
hand-pumped ventilators for patients who couldn't breathe. Doctors
canoed supplies in from three nearby hospitals.
hand-pumped ventilators for patients who couldn't breathe. Doctors
canoed supplies in from three nearby hospitals.
“It's like being in a Third World country. We're trying to work without
power. Everyone knows we're all in this together. We're just trying to
stay alive,” said Mitch Handrich, a registered nurse manager at the
state's biggest public hospital.
Here's a story on the hurricane Katrina's impact on area for-profit hospitals.
This reminds me of past hospital flooding in Houston.
[Hat tip: Biomed Listserv and Joe Hickman]
