Hurricane Katrina: the Aftermath

WakeMed was ready when word came that Hurricane Katrina evacuees from the Gulf Coast may be coming to the Triangle for medical care.  Emergency preparedness is one of our hospital sytem's top priorities, so when the call for help came, we jumped into action.

Treating Patients
To prepare for an influx of patient evacuees from Hurricane Katrina, WakeMed put into action the Hospital Emergency Operations Center (HEOC).  While we didn’t receive as many patients as originally anticipated, WakeMed has seen and treated more than a dozen individuals who were injured or had resulting illnesses from the disaster in the Gulf Coast.  Employees from all over the hospital stood on-call throughout Labor Day weekend, coming in as we anticipated the arrival of planes with evacuated patients from hospitals in Louisiana.

Helping Evacuees
WakeMed quickly put the HEOC to work in other ways.  On Sunday, September 4, the HEOC was activated to help support nearly 400 evacuated residents.  Brought in by plane, these displaced victims had not had showers, clothing, adequate food and water or their necessary medications for nearly a week.  WakeMed established a full field decontamination area at the Nortel Training Center in Research Triangle Park.  We provided tents with showers as well as clothing, and we assisted the Wake County Department of Human Services by greeting, evaluating and supporting the needs of these evacuees.

SMAT 800 – WakeMed CapRAC – Providing Care in the Field
On September 1, at the request of the Federal and State government, WakeMed deployed numerous employees who are members of North Carolina’s State Medical Assistance Teams (SMAT) to assist at a mobile hospital site in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Working with approximately 95 other medical personnel from the state, these employees spent nine days in this hurricane-battered part of the country, setting up a 100-bed field hospital (MED-1) approximately 45 miles from New Orleans.  Serving as a Level I Trauma Center, the hospital is seeing over 200 patients a day, and features an operating room, four intensive care beds, and a digital X-ray machine.  The only facility of its kind, MED-1 was developed by Carolinas Medical Center and was funded by the Department of Homeland Security. 

“Words are inadequate to fully describe the stressful environment and emotional conditions these teams are encountering,” explained Dr. Bill Atkinson, president and CEO.  “Every members of these teams is well-trained and serves as a true example of the Wake Way.  We are proud to have them represent WakeMed during such a serious national disaster.” 

WakeMed’s second group of SMAT members travelled to Mississippi on September 8 to relieve the first team of WakeMed employees.  The second team was deployed for nine days.