|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
From Despair to Hope: BCM responds to Katrinaby Kimberlee Barbour, Claire Bassett, Ron Gilmore, April Sutton and Ross Tomlin
Just behind this still impressive behemoth, sits an unassuming building resembling an empty airplane plant. The Astro Arena, renamed Reliant Arena, overlooks the tops of roller coasters at the nearby Six Flags theme park. In a forgotten corner of the massive Reliant Park, this facility overnight became a bustling medical clinic treating and referring thousands of displaced New Orleanians.
Staffed by physicians serving 12-hour shifts 24 hours a day, the clinic seamlessly accommodated the majority of medical needs. Countless nurses, allied health professionals, technologists and others volunteered their service, with more than 200 health care professionals assisting during the peak periods of the first two days of the evacuees' arrival. During those first hours, the clinic saw an average of 150 patients per hour. By Day Three, that number had dropped by two thirds. "To see the mobilization of personnel and facilities here to help the evacuees from New Orleans has been remarkable," said Dr. Peter Traber, president and CEO of BCM. "This is what it is all about in the United States—helping neighbors." On one of the clinic's first days of operation, Mattox, also a professor of surgery at BCM and chief of staff at Ben Taub General Hospital, led a tour of the Astrodome clinic to a group of government officials headed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Leavitt, who was speechless. "He thought it was better than many hospitals in this country as far as its infrastructure, its organization, and its discipline," said Mattox. Docs Working Together
Roughly 120 full-time pediatricians from Texas Children's Hospital and at least five at any given shift were on hand at the clinic around the clock. By being treated on site, children stayed connected to their families, and emergency centers in the Texas Medical Center remained "decompressed to the greatest possible degree," according to Dr. Ralph Feigin, chair of pediatrics at BCM and physician-in-chief at TCH. Neither the Astrodome clinic nor TCH was short-staffed at any time, nor were physicians required to pull "double duty" at both locations after Day One.
BCM's IT team worked quickly to set up x-ray and ultrasound machines and other equipment, much of which was donated by Siemens, enabling radiologists at Ben Taub to remotely evaluate images of patients at the Astrodome clinic. A revolving staff of BCM radiologists and residents were at the clinic 24/7 for the first week. Other on-site physicians such as orthopedics chair Dr. Michael Heggeness were "very impressed with the quality of support and x-ray capabilities." With a team of roughly a dozen orthopedic surgeons and residents from both BCM and the community, Heggeness was able to quickly downgrade the severity of injuries to "substantially less and less acute" thanks to a steady supply of casting materials, slings, and support boots. Most cases involved lacerations caused by sharp objects obscured by floodwaters. Thanks to an outpouring of voluntary contributions, there were far more OB/Gyn physicians at the clinic than there were patients to treat. Roughly 50 full-time faculty members, residents, and other voluntary staff members provided constant care to those in need and had access to an ultrasound machine and other transported equipment. BCM psychiatrists were among the busiest of on-hand medical experts, given the psychological strain of fleeing destroyed homes and, in some cases, being separated from family members. At first, faculty members had to brace for a significant number of patients who were in crisis mode, according to Dr. Stuart Yudofsky, chair of the Menninger department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at BCM. But because medical attention was efficiently delivered by an array of medical professionals, evacuee morale improved dramatically within the first few days. At a press briefing, Mattox described how pervasively patients' attitudes went "from despair to hope" within the first three days. Joining BCM physicians at the clinic were faculty from the UT-Houston Medical School and community physicians through the Harris County Medical Society. Even BCM alumni volunteered to help. One BCM graduate, Laura Fletcher, class of 1999, is a Los Angeles emergency medicine physician, who caught a flight to Houston, joining the some 1,000 physician volunteers. The Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center also lent its assistance by heading a Patient Reception Team at Ellington Field where many hurricane evacuees arrived. From August 31 to September 6, the team, headed by Dr. Jagadeesh Kalavar, director of the Prime Care Clinics at the VA and an assistant professor of medicine at BCM, triaged 726 patients from 21 military transport flights, and admitted more than 100 patients to the VA. Help also was given through donations and volunteer efforts by countless BCM faculty, staff, students, residents and fellows. Within days after Hurricane Katrina devastated the eastern Gulf Coast area, the BCM family responded by donating more than $50,000 to the Red Cross, mirroring the incredible outpouring of support across the nation. BCM personnel also provided items such as diapers, baby formula, antibacterial hand wipes, and plastic bottled water, as well as volunteering at the Astrodome or in other relief outlets. A student-organized Children's Drive, sponsored by the American Medical Students Association and the Christian Medical and Dental Associations accepted toys, books, stuffed animals, baby blankets, and school supplies. BCM donations were also accepted for the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to assist with shelter and care for pets from states affected by Katrina. Perhaps the ultimate volunteer may very well have been a fourth-year medical student, Neil Farnsworth. Farnsworth, a New Orleans native, felt that he could better serve his hometown by heading home. He made it to Baton Rouge, and then hitched a ride to New Orleans in an ambulance to help rescue workers in their search for survivors. Working as a medic and a street navigator, he encouraged hesitant evacuees to accept assistance. Then Came Rita...
Although Houston (and Baylor) escaped any serious effects, the collective psychological damage lingered since BCM personnel endured the mass evacuation of more than two million Houstonians along clogged highways. Many of them are still hosting evacuees from Southeast Texas and western Louisiana left temporarily stranded by the storm. Also deeply affected were medical students and faculty of Tulane University School of Medicine who had relocated to Baylor as part of an alliance formed to assist the stricken institution as it recovers from Katrina's terrible toll on New Orleans. (See School Away from School.) |
Patient CareResearchThe Next Step in Cancer Research EducationHalf a Century Later... They're Still Giving Back Community ServiceFrom Despair to Hope: BCM Responds to Katrina Alumni & DevelopmentThe Vietnamese Cowboy and the Race Car Driver A Fortunate Life... A Fight Against Cancer College NewsA New Door for the East Campus New Museum to Showcase Maestro of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine: Making a Difference in the Community
|
||
Volume 1, Issue 3, Fall 2005 |
|||
 |
|
BCM Home | BCM Intranet | Privacy Notices | Contact BCM | BCM Site Map © 2005-9 Baylor College of Medicine® |
|
| Last modified: October 10, 2008 |
Once proclaimed the "Eighth Wonder of the World", Houston's Astrodome has sat largely unused since its more glamorous cousin, Reliant Stadium opened in 2002. Relegated to a party facility during the 2004 Super Bowl, the aging dome was shoved into the spotlight once again when it became home to thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees. The Astrodome, it seems, continues to serve Houston and the world well.
Notified that some 20,000 evacuees trapped in the Superdome were being bussed to the Astrodome, the Harris County Hospital District, working closely with Baylor College of Medicine and other Texas Medical Center institutions, set up what became known as the Astrodome Medical Clinic in a matter of hours.
Calling the makeshift facility "an extremely well-oiled machine" after just a few days in existence, Dr. Kenneth Mattox, who was co-director of the medical branch of the relief effort's incident command center in conjunction with county officials, oversaw the transformation of an empty facility into a fully functioning 100,000 square foot field hospital.
From its inception on September 1 to its closing September 16, the clinic, under the medical direction of BCM family and community medicine associate professor Dr. Thomas Gavagan, evaluated more than 15,000 evacuees and provided medical treatment for some 10,000 people. In addition to coping with psychological strain and, in some cases, disease caused by contaminated floodwaters, many of the evacuees needed treatment for preexisting conditions, namely diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and various chronic illnesses. Patients with the direst conditions were transported to area hospitals including Texas Children's Hospital (TCH) and Ben Taub General Hospital.
The Astrodome clinic, which triaged evacuees at a small medical facility located in the Dome itself, provided care at the Reliant Arena in several departmental areas (including pediatrics, internal medicine, family medicine, radiology, OB/Gyn, orthopedics, surgery, and psychiatry) and was equipped with a working lab and pharmacy, with CVS and Walgreen's setting up facilities on site for prescriptions.
The departments of medicine and family and community medicine supplied five doctors for each day shift to cover the clinic's general medicine needs during weekdays. Physicians were able to contain the spread of the Norwalk virus that was transmitted through contaminated floodwaters and caused outbreaks of diarrhea and vomiting.
Two weeks after Katrina's assault on the southeastern Gulf Coast, nature struck once more. Hurricane Rita roared ashore near the Texas-Louisiana line, sending many New Orleans evacuees in Houston scrambling once again, and shutting down much of the city including Baylor College of Medicine.