Thanks to all who were concerned with our well-being during the recent storm. I would like to comment back, but having difficulty with the internet, as well as the satellite since the storm. Today (31/2 days post-dolly) is the 1st day with power. 5pm, and the power came back on....ice...wow! You don't know what you have until it is gone. When you are sitting in Cat II hurricane with the wind blowing the rain sideways at 100 mph, you realize how little and insignificant you are. Walls shaking, wind screaming, you feel so fragile. Human beings are only flesh and blood, and easily injured. I was terrified...almost psycotically so...I've always been afraid of storms. I've survived tornadoes and thunderstorms...but this was something else. Shingles flying, windows flexing...self flushing tolits (something to do with the atmospheric pressure outside being lower than inside or something technical like that...plain weird if you ask me.)
My hospital...being so kind and caring...sent the surgery coordinator out into the hurricane (6 hours after a very slow-moving landfall) to fetch me for work .... so out into the hurricane I wade...with knee boots, and the water was only two inches below the top of the boots. Then I had the scariest , white knuckled ride of my life, creeping along at about 10-15 mph with water up to the doors, trees in the road, power lines down, driving in the ditches...got to the resoaca (small lake) and there was road construction...and the barrels had all washed away, and you couldn't tell which part was the road and which part was going into the water....Got to work...no power except emergency generator. No air-conditioning...just a few box fans...floors sweating (you know how they wax them) within 5 minutes I was soaked to the skin with sweat...not a very pleasant feeling. The first patient began immediately cursing ME because it was HOT and I should FIX it. I sweetly pointed out we were in the middle of a hurricane...and was promptly informed a little wind was nothing...and I was to fetch coffee...of course we didn't have any coffee...because a coffee pot is not considered emergency equipment and does not rate a RED EMERGENCY plug...so there was no coffee. I was then informed by this patient that I was to get my ASS out of his room and GO TO THE CIRCLE K and get him some DAMNED COFFEE!!!!! Hummmmmmmmmmm....and just how was I suppose to accomplish that...on foot...in a hurricane...with objects flying around in the air?????? I made him some instant coffee with hot tap water from my stash in my locker...which he REFUSED to drink after I went to all the trouble. Later a corrections officer who was having to sit with an inmate asked for coffee and I offered him the same thing...and he and his partner were very grateful...and very appreciative. At least somebody thought I was doing something right!. We lost part of the roof on the 4th floor and patients had to be moved to third and second....so we had a mix of med/surg and telemetry/PCCU patients. I kept moving fans around trying to keep my patients as comfortable as possible...but it was really really really miserable.
Today...I have power. The air-c0nditioner is cranking and the humidity is coming down in the house. Life is good.
About Me
- GingerJar
- Mature, pretty, happy-go-lucky, kind, loving, and a good friend. I'm a pretty good darn nurse. Any blogs the names have been changed to protect the innocent. No reference intended to any person's living, dead or imagined. Married to a kind and wonderful man, who is my best friend. Mom to two grown son's and three pup-pupp's, Grand-mom to four grandkiddo's. I reserve the right to state my view of things...right or wrong, without being politically correct (that's just boring).
4 comments:
Thank you God for all the good things. I am so thankful that you are safe.
Goodbye Dolly is right. I would have been scared to death.
It seems you are getting back to normal. You didn't have any damage at your place?
I voted on your poll about going to work during a hurricane. My viewpoint is skewed as I am a federal government employee and they would not ask me to come in. They would close down the office and tell everyone to evacuate. If I was in a job like yours, I guess I would have to go in to work, what other options do you have, ya know!
Glad you made it through in one piece. I have done the hurricaine thing twice so far and it SUCKS! We had no lights in the trauma room and had to work hurricaine traumas in the hallway with IV pole/sheets up as curtains.
I knew I had to work both storms ahead of time, so I drove myself in early to avoid the "white knuckled ride."
I've been through four major hurricanes and I've spent them working in the hospital. The last three were luckily in a hospital which had enough room for family and pets, so it was an incentive to board up, pack up and bring everyone in with you. Plus you were being paid and usually there wasn't much traffic coming through before and during.
I don't envy you the clean up work and the rebuild/adjustor/next couple of weeks scenario. Been there and done that and it SUCKS. Just count yourself as lucky that you're ok and that it could have been MUCH worse.
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