The Okie Legacy: Hurricane Evacuees: A New Perspective

Soaring eagle logo. Okie Legacy Banner. Click here for homepage.

Moderated by NW Okie!

Volume 10 , Issue 37

2008

Weekly eZine: (364 subscribers)
Subscribe | Unsubscribe
Using Desktop...

Sections
Alva Mystery
Opera House Mystery

Albums...
1920 Alva PowWow
1917 Ranger
1926 Ranger
1937 Ranger
Castle On the Hill

Stories Containing...

Blogs / WebCams / Photos
NW Okie's FB
OkieJournal FB
OkieLegacy Blog
Ancestry (paristimes)
NW Okie Instagram
Flickr Gallery
1960 Politcal Legacy
1933 WIRangeManuel
Volume 10
1999  Vol 1
2000  Vol 2
2001  Vol 3
2002  Vol 4
2003  Vol 5
2004  Vol 6
2005  Vol 7
2006  Vol 8
2007  Vol 9
2008  Vol 10
2009  Vol 11
2010  Vol 12
2011  Vol 13
2012  Vol 14
2013  Vol 15
2014  Vol 16
2015  Vol 17
2016  Vol 18
2017  Vol 19
2018  Vol 20
2021  Vol 21
Issues 37
Iss 1  1-6 
Iss 2  1-13 
Iss 3  1-20 
Iss 4  1-27 
Iss 5  2-3 
Iss 6  2-10 
Iss 7  2-17 
Iss 8  2-24 
Iss 9  3-2 
Iss 10  3-9 
Iss 11  3-16 
Iss 12  3-23 
Iss 13  3-30 
Iss 14  4-6 
Iss 15  4-13 
Iss 16  4-20 
Iss 17  4-27 
Iss 18  5-4 
Iss 19  5-11 
Iss 20  5-18 
Iss 21  5-25 
Iss 22  6-1 
Iss 23  6-8 
Iss 24  6-15 
Iss 25  6-22 
Iss 26  6-29 
Iss 27  7-6 
Iss 28  7-13 
Iss 29  7-20 
Iss 30  7-27 
Iss 31  8-3 
Iss 32  8-10 
Iss 33  8-17 
Iss 34  8-24 
Iss 35  8-31 
Iss 36  9-7 
Iss 37  9-14 
Iss 38  9-21 
Iss 39  9-28 
Iss 40  10-5 
Iss 41  10-12 
Iss 42  10-19 
Iss 43  10-26 
Iss 44  11-2 
Iss 45  11-9 
Iss 46  11-16 
Iss 47  11-23 
Iss 48  11-30 
Iss 49  12-7 
Iss 50  12-14 
Iss 51  12-21 
Iss 52  12-28 
Other Resources
NWOkie JukeBox

Hurricane Evacuees: A New Perspective

From this blog: Hurricane Evacuees: A New Perspective

"I am a nurse who has just completed working approximately 120 hours as the clinic director in a Hurricane Gustav evacuation shelter in Shreveport, Louisiana over the last 7 days. I would love to see someone look at the evacuee situation from a new perspective. Local and national news channels have covered the evacuation and "horrible" conditions the evacuees had to endure during Hurricane Gustav.

True - some things were not optimal for the evacuation and the shelters need some modification. At any point, does anyone address the responsibility (or irresponsibility) of the evacuees? Does it seem wrong that one would remember their cell phone, charger, cigarettes and lighter but forget their child's insulin?

Is something amiss when an evacuee gets off the bus, walks immediately to the medical area, and requests immediate free refills on all medicines for which they cannot provide a prescription or current bottle (most of which are narcotics)?

Isn't the system flawed when an evacuee says they cannot afford a $3 co pay for a refill that will be delivered to them in the shelter yet they can take a city-provided bus to Wal-mart, buy 5 bottles of Vodka, and return to consume them secretly in the shelter?

Is it fair to stop performing luggage checks on incoming evacuees so as not to delay the registration process but endanger the volunteer staff and other persons with the very realistic truth of drugs, alcohol and weapons being brought into the shelter?

Am I less than compassionate when it frustrates me to scrub emesis (clinical word for vomit - DR) from the floor near a nauseated child while his mother lies nearby, watching me work 26 hours straight, not even raising her head from the pillow to comfort her own son?

Why does it insense me to hear a man say "I ain't goin' home 'til I get my FEMA check" when I would love to just go home and see my daughters who I have only seen 3 times this week?

Is the system flawed when the privately insured patient must find a way to get to the pharmacy, fill his prescription and pay his copay while the FEMA declaration allows the uninsured person to acquire free medications under the disaster rules?

Does it seem odd that the nurse volunteering at the shelter is paying for childcare while the evacuee sits on a cot during the day as the shelter provides a "day care"?

Have government entitlements created this mentality and am I facilitating it with my work? Will I be a bad person, merciless nurse or poor Christian if I hesitate to work at the next shelter because I have worked for 7 days being called every curse word imaginable, felt threatened and feared for my personal safety in the shelter?

Exhausted and battered but hopefully pithy, Sherri Hagerhjelm, RN." -- Rod Murrow
  |  View or Add Comments (3 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe


© . Linda Mcgill Wagner - began © 1999 Contact Me