Lethal chaos: Professor describes scene at New Orleans hospital
A first-hand account of the New Orleans devastation from leading human rights attorney
Loyola University law professor Bill Quigley, best known for his work with Haitian pro-democracy activist Father Jean-Juste, spent some time speaking to Raw Story’s Jennifer Van Bergen about his experience inside New Orleans’s ground zero.
When the category-four Hurricane Katrina made landfall early last week, Bill Quigley was volunteering at Memorial Hospital, at the heart of what would be later described as the worst-hit area. His wife Debbie, a medical doctor at Memorial, was on duty that night.
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The power went out early Monday. The sickest patients, roughly seventy or so, were evacuated by helicopter Sunday. Not until Wednesday morning did more helicopters appear. Quigley and other volunteers tried to get the attention of the numerous helicopters they could see hovering over the city. The sickest patients were brought up eight flights of stairs in sheet slings to the roof. Some patients were kept on the roof as long as 24 hours.
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Quigley says they saw helicopters from the Red Cross, the National Guard, the Coast Guard and the Army. One Army helicopter, which the volunteers on the roof managed to “flag down” wouldn’t land and refused to take anyone, even those remaining critically ill patients, because “they were full with rescue workers and could only pick up individuals one at a time off of roofs, which they stated they had been doing all day.”
Instead, Quigley says the Army helicopter dropped some food supplies that turned out to be just three or four boxes with tin cans of Vienna sausages.
These were not enough to feed the patients, let alone the staff or volunteers. Food and water supplies were dwindling.
After that the helicopters never returned to Memorial Hospital.
“We couldn’t figure out why they didn’t come back,” Bill said.
Tulane University Hospital had been evacuated, Quigley heard, but those at Memorial “were left to die or get out as best they could.”
At least ten patients died while awaiting rescue workers. Many died because their life-sustaining medical treatment required electricity.
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Bill, tired and still dazed, wonders what happened.
“Why were the Red Cross, Coast Guard, National Guard and Army helicopters there one day and gone the next?” he opined. “Who changed priorities?”
The helicopters didn't return until Wednesday. Isn't that the same day Bush returned from his vacation? Did they stop the rescue so he could ride in on Air Force One, the cavalry, and lead the convoy through New Orleans?
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