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FNC’s Dr. Marc Siegel on the hospital’s decision to evacuate hundreds of patients during Hurricane Sandy.
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Super storm sandy knocked out power in New York University -- on medical center forcing rescuers is that.
To evacuate 300 patients including twenty babies youngest is tickets were evacuated first after the back up generator -- Joining us now is doctor mark -- doctor Percival hospital.
You know you this -- your hospital.
Write them -- -- the hospital absolutely -- -- with you know so the big question is how that's any hospital recover from something like this because this is not supposed to happen.
Charles I spoke to advise staying -- -- was my boss actually you tell me about how it happened in fact had a command central in the lobby of the night when -- all the power went down.
There are several backup generators in the basement but they got flood with -- the -- wall was up to thirteen -- which was much more than they anticipated.
That this charged about 250 patients before the storm.
And they closed the emergency room in anticipation of a problem.
But not to this extent when the power went down the -- got flooded their lost all power they took close to 300 patients out in a heroic effort over the night.
They literally put ramps down the stairs and they and they slid them down the stairs they had battery operated respirators for most of the patients but for the babies you mentioned the babies who were twenty.
Four -- -- they literally had a bag air into their -- as they were taken the manual about an infinite absolutely.
And you know something in the day of electronic medical records there were no records so they actually had doctors volunteering to take the patients to this receiving hospitals.
Saint -- Mount Sinai Cornell they received patient surgical patients several of them and they went along with doctors that volunteered to continue working in the transition.
Talk about exchange of medical information.
No records no paper charts that's -- downside electron.
-- or there's a dispute about whether they are not the hospitals got an order from the city to evacuate.
Did you hear about that dispute what did the hospitals receive -- order to evacuate as it did before Hurricane Irene.
No they I've seen all the emails on this -- that they didn't receive an order before to a vacuum to evacuate the hospital however -- -- very wise decision.
To evacuate the hospital when they're lost power.
And I think the key here is that they did it -- out anyone -- Right but Charles has that you -- and they anticipate something like this the problem here is that the generators are in the basement the men have been the best best place for all of the generate.
Again you know I mean an innocent -- Monday morning quarterbacking here but someone -- -- -- maybe one generators generators should be somewhere -- you know where any flooding can happen but.
I think think the the hospital recovers from this I mean this is certainly a public relations fiasco.
Well it is not only a public relations problem although it depends on what it what -- abruptly the focus is maybe it's gonna be on how heroic there were but also they have no patients now.
They don't have any Internet they don't have any phones they don't know when -- coming back I doubt they're gonna get these patients back.
So that's a huge financial problem for a hospital that has actually been doing quite well -- -- And one thing you mentioned I think we should note that line of ambulances out there the -- -- -- reacted.
When that when it fell everyone -- spring into action but we've -- happily police department and fire permanently on.
You're right thanks -- -- -- -- aren't however.
