| To: ***&&@gmail.com | ||
| Date: | ||
| Subject: Fw: Shreveport Shelter | ||
This is so true.
It is time the rest of the world can see what we put up with in Louisiana.
You that are not from Louisiana do not understand that you can't do enough
To help these people, the more you do-- the more they expect you to do,
Gimme-gimme-gimme and yes I meant to spell it that way. Volunteers work long
hrs and they get spit on--yelled at--cursed
Hey folks this is just one copy of this letter that a colleague of mine sent
to the national media. Let me just say that this lady travels the world
doing medical missions and found Old Sams in S'port scarrier than the 3rd
world countries she has visited. Just thought you might like 2 hear what
things were really like and this letter doesn't even begin to cover it
Subject: Louisiana Evacuations & Shelters
Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:3 1:31 +0000
Hello Mr. O'Reilly
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 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
Posts
3 comments:
Funny noone commented on how awful this nurse is.
Maybe there was a little too much truth in what she had to say?!
ok, I'll comment -
this is BS - has ANY of this been proven??? Does this person actually exist??? How easily the ignorant are just ready to believe the worst in people- especially if they're poor and African American....
I wonder if such emails would be circulated if New Orleans was mostly populated by white, blonde haired, blue-eyed christians?
This person should find another profession, she has no business being a nurse.
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