Did Medical Personnel Kill Patients in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina?

The environmental conditions at the Memorial Medical Center, New Orleans paint the picture of a war zone (Stoner, 2011). Two days of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the hospital experienced a power outage, sanitation system outburst, and air conditioning failure causing room temperatures to rise above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (Ibid). Under these hospital conditions, the medical staff and nurses worked to provide care to patients. It is obvious that the disastrous conditions compromised patient care.

The situation was similar at Linda Boggs Medical center. These conditions necessitated medical personnel to conduct triaging of patients, in order to determine the ones with critical illness and prioritize their treatment and evacuation. Making this decision is difficult for doctors and nurses because it is hard to leave patients while taking others to safety. Despite the efforts of these dedicated hospital staff, all patients did not make it out alive. Linda Boggs Medical Center reported 27 fatalities while the Memorial Hospital Center had 34 losses of life (Ibid).

However, there are reports of mercy killings administered by the medical personnel through lethal morphine and sedative, in some hospital centers (Stoner, 2011). According to investigative reports, the staff at the Memorial Hospital Center administered the drugs to elderly patients who survived the hospital disaster. Soon after, the Attorney general ordered arrests of four medical personnel from the hospital.

Other New Orleans hospitals are under investigations too for possible unethical practices during the period after Hurricane Katrina. It is hard to imagine the possibilities in such situations. Whether the doctors wanted to save themselves or relieve the patients of unbearable suffering it is unacceptable and unethical to compromise the life of patients, in whatever condition.

Reference

Stoner, M. (2011). “Teaching Patient-Centered Care during the Silver Hour”. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 16, 2(2011).

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