New Orleans Patients Arriving in Fort Worth

A ER physician's perspective on the arrival of patients from New orleans in Fort Worth. Excerpted from gruntdoc's blog:

I worked an afternoon shift in my ED today, and the buzz was all about the New Orleans transfers we'd received, and continued to receive.

Our joint got about 12 that I'm aware of, with a very high percentage being dialysis patients and in need of that service. It was entirely appropriate that they were sent to us, as we're one of a few hospitals in the area with inpatient dialysis services available. Our nephrologists didn't bat an eye, and worked hard to get them taken care of.

The patients were flown into the JRC Fort Worth (used to be Carswell AFB), and then a team from the county hospital and the county EMS director started divvying them up.

The patients I cared for showed what you'd expect in a debilitated, chronically ill person with no adequate sanitation for 3 days. All but one showed up with their inpatient hospital chart (in the binder), and one had not just that but prior charts dating back several years!