louisiana after Hurricane Katrina

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0800

At the P-Mac. Turns out, not needed last night at Kmart General Hospital. SB (our team leader) spent the majority of the day talking with the many chiefs. It seemed that our services were best needed as relief for the teams who had been working at P Mac and the field house since the hurricane. Once here, bureaucratic chaos reigns. Far too many chiefs. The field house is changing from acute care to extended care facility status. We did a quick census and found about 4-5 patients that met "inpatient" criteria: mostly for IV antibiotics. We set up two physicians there and the rest of the crew went to the P Mac to take over. The public health service and emergency response team in place did not want to relinquish the site. They had been there since the hurricane and wanted to finish the job. A bunch of Utahans appearing and saying "we're here to take over" wasn't enticing for them. So, the crux of what's happening today is that we are attempting to do a great deal of social work, getting people dispositioned out of the field house. Social work at the field house just does not seem very effective. Neither are we and people are trickling in.



1430

Just got word that 2 MDs will be needed at the field house overnight. I am one of the "lucky" ones, along with JM, trained in internal medicine/ pediatrics. In truth, the acuity likely won't be significant, but the numbers coming in will likely be fairly constant. And, Im not really looking forward to staying up all night.

The patients in the field house are most of the usual: medication neglect, unable to perform activities of daily living. The large part of getting people out is them hoping to go back to New Orleans, wanting to reunite with family, or not wanting to venture far from south Louisiana. Certainly understandable, but their inflexibility hampers our chances of moving them. Oh well, off to walk about campus and take some pics.

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