Why didn't HS/FEMA evacuate the hospitals?

[DoYouEverWonder]

and the nursing homes?

The mayor did a good job of evacuting everyone else. 80% of the people were evacuated and that is an unprecidented amount for any major city. However, when it comes to evacuating the critically ill, there is no way that any mayor would have the resources to even attempt to evacute these people. Resources from the Federal Government and hospitals throughout the region if not the whole country would have to be mobilized. This is clearly a situation that would be beyond the capability of local or even state government.

Gov. Blanco requested Federal Asssistance at least two days before the storm hit. On Sunday Bush announced a State of Emergency for the region. Yet it appears that the Feds made no attempt to send in people or equipment to help with the evacuation. Why not? What went wrong? Did they even bother to plan for that aspect of an emergency?

[TomInTib]

1. Excellent point! Thank you. n/t

[Erika]

2. Charity hospital, who serves the poorest of the poor

was the last one evacuated. If their dedicated doctors had not gone to the media, they may have never been evacuated. The hospital was placing dead bodies in stairwells between floors.

They had no food, water, or medicine.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. That is the 2nd part of this issue

Even after the storm, HS/FEMA did little to get the sick and dieing out of the hospitals, despite the worst possible situations imaginable. Not only couldn't they get food and water to people sheltered in the city, they couldn't even drop supplies to the hospitals, no less bother to try to help people get out it seemed.

This is one area that we may be able to hold HS/FEMA accountable where they can't try to blame everyone else for their failures.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

3. Too busy evacuating the Arabian horses first.

[madmom]

5. At the very least this is negligent homicide...

on the part of the fed. government.Personally I think it's genocide.

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. That is the case we need to build

and I think their response to the hospitals is a real weak spot for them.

[bluedawg12]

7. These people shold have left in yellow buses

when pigs fly.

Up my a$$.

The crisis is not that an entire city didn't evacuate. They didn't, hadn't and never will.

There are twice as many dead out of Mississippi than Louisiana- so something went right in NOLA.

The real crisis was the failure of the Federal Government under FEMA to send communications equipment that would allow co-oridnated law enforcement to provide security, and then evacuating hospitals and nursing homes first WHILE providing security, water, food , medicine and sanitation (porta-potties nincompoops ) to the citizens in the Superdome and the Convention Center.

I just saw a picture in Newsweek of a young woman who collapsed in the Superdome and died shortly after the picture was taken. Young, very young, a beautiful young, black American woman–and I am angry all over again.

.....................

Remember the Superdome

Real man don’t eat cake when cities are drowning.

Heck of job turdie, heck of a job.

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. That's why I think we should look at the hospital situation

The mayor did everything humanly possible, especially considering that the Feds totally failed him in every way. The hospitals are a glaring example of the FEDS failure to respond appropriately.

[Erika]

9. Yes, Charity Hospital only received help because they begged

the media to broadcast their needs.

[Erika]

10. Bump for Charity Hospital

These guys/gals stayed against all odds. Their hospital took care of the poorest of the poor. They would have gotten no help without their media solicitations. Even so, they lost many patients.

[bluedawg12]

11. You bet, helicopters come from military

and not city Mayors. The failure to rescue patients is at the top of the humantirian crisis that the world witnessed.

Nagin struggled in a city spinning into anarchy and begged for help.
SOS does not mean: Sit On the Sidelines.

Brownie still doesn't get it???

I am listening to a doctor who is broken hearted about not being able to help people at the Convention Center- he will carry that memory and the failure of the government for the rest of his life.

G*ddamnit life is cheap in this .....

[DoYouEverWonder]

13. That's what I'm getting at here

I've also noticed that the MD's and EMT folks are very upset by this whole thing. That is good, they can be very formidable when they are angry.

[sandnsea]

12. Private Enterprise Has Freedom To Choose

I have no problem spending the money to evacuate people from anywhere, but many of these facilities were private. For example, all of these are Tenet Health Systems facilities.

Gulf Coast Medical Center
Kenner Regional Medical Center
Lindy Boggs Medical Center
Meadowcrest Hospital
Memorial Medical Center
NorthShore Regional Medical Center