Doctors Hamstrung in Relief Efforts (Drs turned away)

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Volunteer physicians are pouring in to care for the sick, but red tape is keeping hundreds of others from caring for Hurricane Katrina survivors while health problems escalate.

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"We have tried so hard to do the right thing. It took us 30 hours to get here," he said. That government officials can't straighten out the mess and get them assigned to a relief effort now that they're just a few miles away "is just mind-boggling," he said.


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As they talked with Mississippi officials about prospects of helping out there, other doctors complained that their offers of help also were turned away.

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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050904/D8CDKNCG0.html


I cannot understand why so much relief aid is being turned away.

and Cuba can have them on site within 24 hours. Why is Bush refusing the many offers of help he has received from nations such as Sri Lankha, Cuba, Venezuela, etc? Could it be that Bush only feels comfortable with white anglo-saxons?

what in the hell is going on???

This rejection of help, supplies, and aid has got to be addressed.

level of incompetence that continues to grow even as BushCo are finally in gear and paying attention because of the political crisis they are in.

All they care about is protecting Bush from criticism. They are good at staying photo ops, but they sure are the most incompetent bunch ever! Their negligence borders on the criminal.

It's pure paranoia on the part of the * admin. Since they went to the trouble to put FEMA under the control of Homeland Security, why would they let anyone in who doesn't have high-level security access cleared by them beforehand? (Those doctors could be terrorists, ya know?...sarcasm) It's the only reason I can think of offhand for so much red tape blocking such goodwill attempts at assistance.

That said, obviously that type of micro-management will not work with disasters like this one. You need all the helping hands you can get. We need a flexible policy in the case of disasters. Doctors, EMTs, rescuers, military, etc., should be going in and relieving those who have been working so hard this past week.

Any help he accepts from outside his administration, financial or logistical, is tacit admission of failure. If people aren't supposed to be dependent on government, it's a mockery of policies for his government to be dependent on others.

:headbang:
rocknation

Do they have a quota of dead to fill?

AND NO ONE, REPEAT NO ONE SHOULD GO NEAR "IT".

:grr:

:kick:

turned away! DUH!

Sometimes there is no room for rules.

contacted FEMA & The MS & LA Board of Health on Wednesday, still hasn't heard back.

She's former active duty in the US Public Health Svc. and is one of few physicians out there that has experience treating the diseases that will come. She retired effective Friday and was available for help or general relief, no calls.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/09/04/katrina.sick.redtape.ap/index.html

Volunteer physicians are pouring in to care for the sick, but red tape is keeping hundreds of others from caring for Hurricane Katrina survivors while health problems rise.

Among the doctors stymied from helping out are 100 surgeons and paramedics in a state-of-the-art mobile hospital, developed with millions of tax dollars for just such emergencies, marooned in rural Mississippi.

"The bell was rung, the e-mails were sent off. ...We all got off work and deployed," said one of the frustrated surgeons, Dr. Preston "Chip" Rich of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"We have tried so hard to do the right thing. It took us 30 hours to get here," he said. That government officials can't straighten out the mess and get them assigned to a relief effort now that they're just a few miles away "is just mind-boggling," he said.

And I just read that 30 patients have died at the airport.

I guess they just missed the "tidal wave" of compassion that * declares...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1753133&mesg_id=1753133

If you've been wondering why we aren't seeing the mass spontaneous arrival of help, that's why.

8/29
“The response to Hurricane Katrina must be well coordinated between federal, state and local officials to most effectively protect life and property,” Brown said.

http://www.iafc.org/news/article.asp?id=279

9/1
FEMA/DHS Request Fire Emergency Service Assistance
http://www.iafc.org/news/article.asp?id=280

effort, then it cuts down on the amount of lucrative no-bid contracts that Bushco can hand out to its buddies, don'cha know. Privatization is the way to go!

I hate these fokkers so much that I can barely stand it today. :-(

...was created to cut through the red tape and bureaucratic roadblocks. Billions of Taxpayer Dollars were spent to ensure that help could quickly reach those in need when a disaster occurs! The Department of Homeland Security is a TOTAL FAILURE!

There ARE people responsible who should be held accountable for needless deaths that have happened because help was actually held up by the agency that was supposed to expedite it. Director of FEMA Brown was too busy holding press conferences to actually help anyone. Same goes for Homeland Security czar Chertoff....too busy doing pR work and mugging for the cameras to help!


AND there is ONE MAN who can cut through ANY RED TAPE and get the supplies to people in need. That man (sic) is George Bush* who can use his Emergency Powers to GET THINGS DONE. ALL these people FAILED in their sworn responsibilities and SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE for many NEEDLESS Deaths.
I am talking about CRIMINAL NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE!!!

The Republican Ownership Society




The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

Not all refugees down there are getting 24/7 medical care..even once they are "rescued"...yet they are turning extrahelp away???


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4634206&mesg_id=4634206


A worker on the police scanner is begging for refugee medical attention.. is told the medical people HAVE LEFT FOR THE DAY:

"Diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension, we are overwhelmed. Serious medical crisis"
"We have a serious situation"

Is told "Medical people gone for the day"

Airport area where there was care was being given has been closed and the guy was told to take the refugees to I-10 and Causeway but there is nothing there! Airport has stopped taking people in, turned them away. Massive confusion on where to send the refugees for care.


WHERE are the military medical people??? This is NOT a 9-5 job! The worker's voice was cracking as he tried to explain and re-explain why the refugees at his location needed help.

the PEOPLE want the aid, and they need to get it.

They better watch out when thousands of poor, starving, and sick people trapped in that city decide to DO something about it.

Looks like the military is giving them very little support...there is not even a doc or medical hospital set up at this parish.

From the scanner tonight..this is the parish shelter official talking to who is a Dept of Health and Hospital operator


Request military hospital at this location...

How many people are you treating?
2,000. Expect to reach more in St Bernards once water goes down

Things St Bernard offical is requesting:
Military medical response team, medical hospital set up
4 mosquito abatement teams ground and air
-Vet response team dogs rinning wild, attacking, sick, aggressive dogs
CDC support for disease control assistance for disease outbreak
(epidemiolgy support wanted)
Urgent need for tetanus, gammoglobulin shots, yellow fever

The parish already has 2 paramedics, 2 nurses, but no MD.
Ambulance needed, smooth transition to give relief to people who have been doing this for a week now.

Dept of Health and Hospitals operator:
"I'll talk to the feds, tell them what we need and see how fast we can get it."

Guess that's all they need. :sarcasm:

Mz Pip
:dem:

horsesass.com group..

what is his history, his story..