A Doctor's Long Shift Ends with Evacuation

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DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host:

Dr. Roderick Bennet spent this week trapped with his patients at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. Conditions there were abysmal, and it was widely reported the doctors and nurses were giving themselves fluid intravenously so that they could continue to care for the sick. Dr. Bennet and his co-workers were finally rescued last night following the evacuation of the patients at Charity Hospital. He joins me now.

Well, how are you doing after that ordeal?

Dr. RODERICK BENNET (Charity Hospital): I just had one of the best night's sleep I've ever had in my entire life.

ELLIOTT: And your staff?

Dr. BENNET: Well, we've kind of been separated. They got us out in fan boats and then some people on buses and some people on 18-wheelers, so I was one of the groups before the last to go out, so I know that all of the nurses were out and the residents went out. It was just the staff doctors who were left, so I'm assuming that they got out right behind us.

ELLIOTT: So you will certainly be remembered as some of the heroes of this tragedy. We've mentioned the IV fluids. What else did the doctors and nurses there do to keep the operation going?

Dr. BENNET: Well, we basically--we just worked, you know, around the clock and slept when we could and just--we were there for, you know, physical and mental and emotional support for each other, and I think just knowing that, you know, if you needed a couple minutes off, you needed some time to collect yourself, that, you know, no one would think down on you. They just went about their business, and as soon as you'd come back and started helping again, they were glad to have you there.

ELLIOTT: Do you know how any of the patients are?

Dr. BENNET: We don't know how they are. We just know that we had them as stable as we could get them, you know, until we'd get them into better hands, but they have to be better off than they were at Charity.

ELLIOTT: What kind of condition had things deteriorated to before you were actually evacuated? What kinds of decisions were you having to make?

Dr. BENNET: Well, there actually came a point when the basement began to flood, when we had to evacuate the emergency department from the first floor to the second, and so we had to prioritize how we were getting the patients upstairs, and we had nine patients on ventilators, you know, that had machines breathing for them dropped off on us when we really couldn't handle them, and, you know, they were some of the sickest patients, but also the most difficult to transport to the second floor. So they were the last to be transported upstairs because they were so labor intensive and, you know, had that first floor flooded, you know, they--unfortunately they would have just had to been left downstairs. But we did. We got everything moved. It was amazing how quickly we got everything moved upstairs, and we got them up there.

ELLIOTT: Were you able to keep all your patients alive during this ordeal?

Dr. BENNET: There were actually a couple of the sicker patients, the conditions were so severe--I mean, I--you know, I'm relatively young and I was just drenched with sweat the entire time, so, you know, when you're elderly, you just--you're just not built for that, especially if you're already, you know, sick and debilitated.

ELLIOTT: Were you surprised at how long it took to get the patients and then you guys out of there?

Dr. BENNET: I was absolutely surprised. You know, from our standpoint, we had a disaster plan, you know, for the hospital, and included in that plan, you know, we just assumed that, you know, the outside agencies knew the hurricane was coming, knew the potential it had and would be on standby, and our plan was to be there to the very end. But as soon as we lost power and were no longer able to function as a hospital, you know, we thought then that we'd be able to evacuate patients somewhere else.

ELLIOTT: So what's next for you?

Dr. BENNET: I just woke up and things are very much in the air because, you know, I don't know the condition of my home. You know, I've got hospital scrubs, you know, right now. I've got my four pair that I brought in with me and I don't know what's gonna happen with our residency training program and, you know, all that I'm just now thinking about.

ELLIOTT: Well, thanks for sharing your story with us. Dr. Roderick Bennet of Charity Hospital in New Orleans, thank you.

Dr. BENNET: Thanks for having me.

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