Dr. Anna Pou (previous posts here), the former faculty member of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, performed heroically in the horrific aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. For her heroism, she became the main subject of one of the most egregious examples of prosecutorial misconduct in recent memory. In this extensive Newsweek article, Dr. Pou finally tells her side of the story and it magnifies the enormity of the injustice that a few irresponsible Louisiana state officials have put her through. The following are a few tidbits:
What was it like after the levees broke?
Monday after the storm passed, we figured, ëOK, minimal damage; we began organizing how we were going to evacuate the hospital.í We didnít have full power so we needed to move patients. Tuesday morning we were planning our day and one of the nurses called me to the window and said youíve got to come see this. Water was gushing from the street. So we all kind of looked in disbelief. What is this? We could tell the city was flooding, you could see water down Claiborne Street. It was rising about a foot an hour. Then the whole mood at the hospital changed and what we were doing changed. We were in hurricane mode and we had to go into survival mode because we knew we had to be there for some time.
How did things change on Wednesday?
Tuesday night, we lost generator power, and that changed things a lot. ëTil then we were on generator power so we did have some lights, and we did have some water. Water wasnít clean, but it was running. But then we didnít have water, we didnít have any electricity, commodes were backing up everywhere. Conditions in the hospital started to deteriorate Tuesday night and early Wednesday. When that happens it makes care a lot more difficult. I was called to help suction a patient who had a tracheotomy but we had no suction running. We were going down to very, very basic care. You try every old-time method you can Ö [P]eople in charge were trying to get helicopters to come, [but] at that time we were told we were low priority. There were people on rooftops [who were going to get rescued first]. They said Ö thereís not going to be a lot of help coming, [so] what we decided [was] if helicopters were going to show up sporadically, we have to have patients ready and waiting to go. [. . .]
The conditions were unbearable. Inside the hospital it was pitch black, with odors, smell, human waste everywhere. It was very rancid. You would take a breath in and it would burn the back of your throat. The patients were very sick. Thatís when we had to go from triage to reverse triage because we came to realize if patients arenít being evacuated, [we had to deal with what we had]. Basically it was a general consensus that weíre not going to be able to save everybody. We hope that we can, but we realize everybody may not make it out. [. . .]
By the time Wednesday evening came around, if you can imagine in our mind, there is a central area that is a sea of people. A lot of very sick patients in that central triage area. Itís grossly backed up. Few patients had been evacuated. So there was just enough space to walk between the stretchers. It is extremely dark. Weíre having to care for patients by flashlight. There were patients that were moaning, patients that are crying. Weíre trying to cool them off. We had some dirty water we could use, some ice. We were sponging them down, giving them sips of bottled water, those who could drink. The heat wasóthere is no way to describe that heat. I was in it and I canít believe how hot it was. There are people fanning patients with cardboard, nurses everywhere, a few doctors and wall-to-wall patients. Patients are so frightened and weíre saying prayers with them. We kind of looked around at each other and said, ìYou know thereís not a whole lot we can really do for those people.î Weíre waiting [for help]. The people in that area could have [been evacuated] by boat but no boats were coming. I would do what I could with the nurses: changing diapers, cooling patients down with fanning. It wasnít like, ìIím a doctor, youíre a nurse.î We were all human beings trying to help another human being, whatever it took.
What happened Thursday?
On Thursday morning we were told nobody was coming and we had to fend for ourselves. Everybody was kind of like at a loss here. What is plan B? Or plan C?
