Re: Fw: Dispatch from New Orleans (OT)

[Guest guest]

Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 13:29:10 -0700 (PDT)

former Wilmington physician writes from New Orleans

Aug. 31, 2005

This is a dispatch from New Orleans from Dr. Greg

, a pathologist who recently moved from

Wilmington:

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 , 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

collective prayers will be answered. By the way,

suture packs, sterile gloves and stethoscopes will be

Greg