[StBernard] A nurse's view of our evacuees

[Westley Annis]

I dare anyone to say this nurse is not a caring or compassionate human
being.  Just goes to prove most of the people at such shelters don't really
need the assistance and are a bunch of useless ingrates.

John Scurich
 

-----Original Message-----
thought this was worth a post - jill






	 Personal Insight To Hurricane Evac Centers
	By Charles Guidry
	
	Wednesday, September 10 2008
	
	Sherri Hagerhjelm, RN, volunteered her time to help Gustav evacuees
at
	the
	shelter in Shreveport, La.  During her volunteer hours she was
required
	to
	be escorted by a National Guardsmen armed with an assult rifle to
ensure
	her
	safety.  In a letter to the editor of a south Louisiana newspaper,
	Hagerhjelm offers a unique perspective on evacuation centers:
	
	
	Dear Editor,
	
	I am a nurse who has just completed volunteer 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
	copay
	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 "daycare"?
	
	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, feeling threatened and fearing for my
personal
	safety
	in the shelter?
	
	Exhausted and battered,
	
	Sherri Hagerhjelm, RN
	
	
	You can access it at the following URL:
	
	http://wgso.com/content/view/7758/258/