Dispatch from a physician describes conditions in New Orleans in the days immediately following Hurricane Katrina.
In the days immediately following Hurricane Katrina's assault on Louisiana, reliable bulletins of what was going on in New Orleans were hard to come by. The worst was feared but at that time unconfirmed, with phone and Internet outages contributing to the news blackout. This e-mailed note written by a doctor who was on the scene was one of the first personal accounts to reach the general public, and it painted a horrific picture of a city in chaos. Some doubted its authenticity, wondering how it could possibly have been sent, given the state of electronic communications in that hurricane-devastated area.The text being circulated on the Internet was indeed an e-mail sent by a physician caught up in the devastation of New Orleans. Dr. Greg Henderson was in that city when Katrina hit and is now spearheading a volunteer effort to provide medical care to the many sick and injured. Formerly of Wilmington, North Carolina, where he worked at the New Hanover Regional Medical Center for seven years, this 43-year-old pathologist had been in New Orleans to take up a new position at Ochsner Medical Center. He has made it his mission to set up field medical services in the stricken city and has been working tirelessly to aid the many victims of the disaster. Wilmington pharmacy firm, PPD, has flown drugs and other supplies to New Orleans to assist him in this endeavor.On 3 September 2005, Dr. Henderson supplied this update to his original e-mail detailing conditions:I am replying to all of your letters of prayers and support in this way in the interests of time. 1. thanks for all your letters of support and prayers and offers to help. 2. i am safe, and now based at the Sheraton hotel where we have a new makeshift clinic established. 3. the situation at the convention center is urgent and disastrous = 10-20 thousand people in dire need of health care from minor to severe. A small MASH unit was established there last night. I will be joining them today - I desparately need the help of as many medically trained individuals as possible to triage these patients, treat if necessary, and evacuate - only the most serious will be seen at the MASH 4. i need to figure out how to set up a morgue. there are several dead at the convention center 5. some supplies are ariving today courtesy of Fred Eschelman and PPD Inc of north carolina - I will get these supplies to the convention center as soon as they arrive. 6. i need mobile dialysis units - thousands haven't been dialysed in over a week. 7. i can be reached pretty well on my cell phone at [number deleted]. now is the time to act - i need help - i haven't found any other physicians in the field yet and i can only do so much 9. Ochsner is the only fully functional facility in the city - they are effectively taking care of all of their patients and offering extrordinary help, an lots of supplies - i am proud to be part of this organization. Greg HendersonDr. Henderson urges medical personnel of any type, doctors, nurses, EMTs, even people with basic first aid training, to come to the Sheraton Hotel on Canal Street from anywhere in the country.Barbara 'come to heal' Mikkelson
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