E-Mail from a Pathologist in New Orleans -- using the Ritz Carlton as a hospital

I work at a hospital in southeastern NC, and one of our pathologists relocated to NO a while back. He's holed up in the Ritz Carlton on Canal street and sent this missive.

Thanks to all of you who have sent your notes of concern and your prayers. I am writing this note on Tuesday at 2 p.m.. I wanted to update all of you as to the situation here. I don't know how much information you are getting but I am certain it is more than we are getting. Be advised that almost everything I am telling you is from direct observation or rumor from reasonable sources. They are allowing limited internet access, so I hope to send this dispatch today.

Personally, my family and I are fine. My family is safe in Jackson, Miss., and I am now a temporary resident of the Ritz Carleton Hotel in New Orleans. I figured if it was my time to go, I wanted to go in a place with a good wine list. In addition, this hotel is in a very old building on Canal Street that could and did sustain little damage. Many of the other hotels sustained significant loss of windows, and we expect that many of the guests may be evacuated here.

Things were obviously bad yesterday, but they are much worse today. Overnight the water arrived. Now Canal Street (true to its origins) is indeed a canal. The first floor of all downtown buildings is underwater. I have heard that Charity Hospital and Tulane are limited in their ability to care for patients because of water. Ochsner is the only hospital that remains fully functional. However, I spoke with them today and they too are on generator and losing food and water fast.

The city now has no clean water, no sewerage system, no electricity, and no real communications. Bodies are still being recovered floating in the floods. We are worried about a cholera epidemic. Even the police are without effective communications. We have a group of armed police here with us at the hotel that is admirably trying to exert some local law enforcement. This is tough because looting is now rampant. Most of it is not malicious looting. These are poor and desperate people with no housing and no medical care and no food or water trying to take care of themselves and their families.

Unfortunately, the people are armed and dangerous. We hear gunshots frequently. Most of Canal street is occupied by armed looters who have a low threshold for discharging their weapons. We hear gunshots frequently. The looters are using makeshift boats made of pieces of styrofoam to access. We are still waiting for a significant national guard presence.

The health care situation here has dramatically worsened overnight. Many people in the hotel are elderly and small children. Many other guests have unusual diseases. ... There are (Infectious Disease) physicians in at this hotel attending an HIV confection. We have commandered the world famous French Quarter Bar to turn into an makeshift clinic. There is a team of about seven doctors and PAs and pharmacists. We anticipate that this will be the major medical facility in the central business district and French Quarter.

Our biggest adventure today was raiding the Walgreens on Canal under police escort. The pharmacy was dark and full of water. We basically scooped the entire drug sets into garbage bags and removed them. All under police excort. The looters had to be held back at gunpoint. After a dose of prophylactic Cipro I hope to be fine.

In all we are faring well. We have set up a hospital in the the French Qarter bar in the hotel, and will start admitting patients today. Many will be from the hotel, but many will not. We are anticipating dealing with multiple medical problems, medications and and acute injuries. Infection and perhaps even cholera are anticipated major problems. Food and water shortages are imminent.

The biggest question to all of us is where is the National Guard. We hear jet fignters and helicopters, but no real armed presence, and hence the rampant looting. There is no Red Cross and no Salvation Army.

In a sort of cliché way, this is an edifying experience. One is rapidly focused away from the transient and material to the bare necessities of life. It has been challenging to me to learn how to be a primary care phyisican. We are under martial law so return to our homes is impossible. I don't know how long it will be and this is my greatest fear. Despite it all, this is a soul-edifying experience. The greatest pain is to think about the loss. And how long the rebuid will take. And the horror of so many dead people . PLEASE SEND THIS DISPATCH TO ALL YOU THING MAY BE INTERSTED IN A DISPATCH from the front. I will send more according to your interest. Hopefully their collective prayers will be answered. By the way, suture packs, sterile gloves and stethoscopes will be needed as the Ritz turns into a MASH.

Note: The following text is an exact quote:
---

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Aug2005/20050831_2584.html

10,000 More Guard Troops to Support Military's Hurricane Response

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2005 – More than 11,000 Army and Air National Guard members and 7,200 active-duty troops, mostly Navy, are supporting hurricane relief operations along the Gulf Coast, and 10,000 more National Guard troops are expected to join the effort within the next 48 hours, Defense Department officials said today.
Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, told Pentagon reporters today the additional troops, who hail from 13 states outside the region, will be evenly divided between the hardest-hit states, Mississippi and Louisiana. There, he said, they will augment forces already on the ground helping law enforcement agencies with security and traffic control; transporting and distributing food, water and ice; conducting searches and rescues; providing generator support; and carrying out other missions to support life and property.

About one-third of the added troops will be military police, to help civilian law enforcement authorities guard critical facilities, prevent looting, apprehend curfew violators and assist in law-and-order enforcement, Blum said.

More National Guard engineers also will join the relief effort, helping clear roads of obstructions that block movement into and out of the affected areas, and transportation units will bring fleets of 5-ton trucks capable of maneuvering through heavy floodwaters to deliver desperately needed equipment and supplies.

In addition, the Idaho Air National Guard will deliver handheld radios donated by the National Firefighting Service to help ease communication problems throughout the region due to downed cellular nets, he said.

As the added National Guard forces mobilize to support what's being called one of the largest disaster-response mobilizations in U.S. history, the Guard will continue to respond to governors' requests. Blum said he expects those requests to change as the situation on the ground evolves and more information becomes available.

All units, regardless of mission, will arrive in the region self-sufficient and ready to operate with no need for food, water, medical or fuel support so they don't burden on-the-ground operators, Blum said. "We'll come with our own solutions," the general said.

Meanwhile, every National Guard except those in Hawaii and Guam either is supporting the relief effort or is prepared to respond if needed, Blum said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Northern Command is coordinating DoD's active-duty support for the hurricane relief mission, Air Force Brig. Gen. Terry Scherling, deputy director of antiterrorism and homeland defense for the Joint Staff, told reporters.

The initial focus is on preventing loss of life, restoring infrastructure and maintaining confidence in the government, she said.

In addition to establishing Joint Task Force Katrina at Camp Shelby, Miss., to coordinate support operations among NORTHCOM, other DoD elements and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the command is supporting recovery operations with aviation and naval assets needed now, with seven ships and 60 helicopters already committed.

But Scherling said she expects DoD's contribution to increase as governors identify more needs. Already, the military is preparing to provide 4,000 to 5,000 hospital beds, both ashore and afloat, in the affected region.

Earlier this afternoon, Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, said DoD anticipates sending a 500-bed mobile hospital to the New Orleans area, as well as USNS Comfort, a Baltimore-based hospital ship. Comfort is expected to leave its homeport Sept. 2, arriving in the region around Sept. 8, McHale said.

McHale said a request for the military to contribute as many as 800 people to assist the American Red Cross with shelter support "is under active consideration," and DoD has 1.5 million cases of field rations available if needed.

As the military responds to immediate needs, Scherling said, DoD planners are looking ahead so they're prepared to respond to needs yet to be identified. "We're leaning forward and anticipating what is going to be needed," she said.

McHale echoed that message during a joint news conference today in which Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and representatives of various federal agencies outlined the extent of the disaster response.

DoD is "a fully cooperating partner" that's working proactively so it's already ready to act when called upon, McHale said. "We're forward deploying everything that we think may be required by FEMA," he said, "and will be fully prepared to respond to FEMA's requests for assistance when they inevitably are forthcoming."

President Bush, addressing the nation today in the Rose Garden, announced the formation of a Cabinet-level task force headed by Chertoff to coordinate the federal response to what he called "one of the worst natural disasters in our nation's history."

The recovery "will take years," he said. "This is going to be a difficult road. The challenges we face on the ground are unprecedented, but there is no doubt in my mind that we are going to succeed."

The president gave assurance to residents of the affected region, whose days he acknowledged "seem awfully dark" in light of what's happened to their homes and communities. "The country stands with you," Bush said. "We will do all in our power to help you."

Biographies:
Michael Chertoff
Paul McHale
Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, USA
Brig. Gen. Terry Scherling, USAF

Related Sites:
President Outlines Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts
Department of Homeland Security
Federal Emergency Management Agency
U.S. Northern Command
National Guard Bureau
DoD Web Special: Relief and Recovery, Hurricane Katrina

Thanks for posting this.

I saw yesterday a message for help through a third party via MSNBC from Charity hospital. They said Tulane Med Cntr had been evacuated but the patients and staff at Charity, which I understand is a state hospital, are still there.

It sounded like they were in dire straights. I just don't understand why or how this could happen. This country should be able to get hundred if not thousands of troops or whatever is necessary in there to get people out NOW. [actually 2 days ago]

If the people near the Dome are shooting at choppers then surround them and leave them there. Go help the people who are the worst off and I would venture a guess those are the ones in the hospital!!!

This whole incident scares me because I can see our country is not ready to handle anything of this magnitude. New Orleans screwed up by not getting more guard in there immediately. Their own police were in Walmart looting for gosh sake. What if there is another emergency somewhere else in the country, what then?

One more question. If the city is completely evacuated then who is the lucky city to get the looters?? Where will they end up?

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