Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Earthquakes, Disasters

[mskatiescarletohara]

Our area hospital, WakeMed is on standby with UNC Chapel-Hill, Duke University....all of us participated in the drill last May, we haven't heard from FEMA yet, but expect too...

Hospitals On Standby To Receive Hurricane Katrina Patients

POSTED: 5:40 pm EDT August 31, 2005
UPDATED: 10:36 pm EDT August 31, 2005

MORRISVILLE, N.C. -- Within the next 48 hours, Raleigh-Durham International Airport is expected to become a staging ground for patients from the Gulf Coast region hit by Hurricane Katrina.

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency has activated the National Disaster Medical System and put the Triangle area on standby, meaning local hospitals and emergency responders are gearing up to take in as many as 110 patients from the Gulf States within the next two days.

Katrina has caused the evacuation of most hospitals in the region. This means there are hospital patients who have nowhere to go, as well as new patients who need medical care. FEMA estimates there are as many as 2,500 people who will be flown out of the area to receive care in other states.

"We are taking some interim measures to prepare for patients because again we don't know the number we will be receiving," said Barb Bisset, the Executive Director of Emergency Services at WakeMed, one of the local hospitals preparing to receive patients.

The Triangle region was chosen primarily because of its excellent hospitals -- there are 22 within a 60-mile radius of RDU.

"We have actually performed drills so they know we do this very well," Bisset said. "They have a lot of confidence in us and so that's why they selected to start transporting patients here."

In May, Wake County held the biggest disaster drill ever in the state. County officials said this operation will be the real test and they are ready.

"We've drilled," said Wake County spokeswoman Sharon Brown. "We know how to do this and we will be hopefully able to help them as soon as we hear the word."

Once they get the word, emergency managers expect they will have about 12 hours before the first plane lands. They expect the staging area to be the National Guard Armory at RDU International.