WITHOUT A HOSPITAL
We all do our best to be prepared in an emergency; however, there are always things we don’t expect that may come up. We often take medical care for granted when disaster hits. The hospitals and physicians are usually there when we need them, but what happens when the hospital has been destroyed by a natural or manmade disaster? Remember Joplin, Missouri, in 2011 when an F5 tornado destroyed the hospital there? How about Hurricane Maria in 2017 that rendered 65 of 67 hospitals in Puerto Rico non-operational in the first few days after the disaster? There were 3.5-million people seeking help with only two functioning hospitals on the island. One month after the hurricane, less than half of those 67 facilities were operational. Are you prepared for that scenario? Do you have a plan?
I asked three experts in their respective fields what advice they’d give in a situation where disaster has destroyed medical facilities. Mark Linderman is a crisis risk manager for the CDC and takes a community approach to preparation. Kerry Davis is a former medic and nurse, and is the CEO of Dark Angel Medical. He focuses on teaching individuals skill sets and developing a plan to survive. J.R. Grounds is the leader of the
