Life Is What Happens on the way to the Flood

I received these two letters in the e-mail last week. The first is from Angel Staffing, who arranged the staff needs for the Hurricane Katrina evacuees two years ago, sent last Thursday:

The City of San Antonio and the State of Texas needs YOUR help!!!

Angel Staffing has been asked by the San Antonio Metro Health District and Baptist Child and Family Services to coordinate all medical staff San Antonio medical shelters around the clock for Tropical Storm Erin and Tropical Storm Dean evacuees.

ALL VOLUNTEERS WILL BE STAFFED IN SAN ANTONIO.

Primary evacuees will be from nursing homes, hospitals and assisted living facilities.

Here is an update about TS Dean:

TS Dean is strengthening and is expected to obtain hurricane status within the next 12 hour period. Based on information obtained during the 4:00 pm State Operations Center conference call with the National Weather Service, this storm is expected to become a major threat to Texas over the next week. Current modeling indicates this storm has the potential to grow to CAT 3 or CAT 4 status and is “likely” to impact the Texas gulf coast. Tasking from the State of Texas for Angel Staffing IS EXPECTED for what will become Hurricane Dean.

This will be challenging, but I know the medical staff of San Antonio are up to a challenge like this one! All volunteers are asked to commit to a minimum of 12 hours; 7am/pm-7pm/am.

It is not necessary to be affiliated with Angel's or to work for Angel's to volunteer. Angel Staffing is donating our time and efforts on behalf of the cause and we are simply helping out by coordinating volunteer's for this massive local effort. Please pass the word on to your friends and co-workers. If you plan to volunteer please call 616-9526 to let Angel's on call staff know you are planning on helping out. This coordination effort will be most sucessful with good communication, this way we utilize all medical staff in the most efficient manner.

Angel's will be waiting to hear from you, 210-616-9526!

Thanks to all of you,
Melanie Register
Executive Vice President
Angel Staffing, Inc.

The second is from the Texas Board of Nursing Examiners sent last Friday, sending broadcast e-mails to all south texas nurses who have e-mail accounts. (Apparently the State of Texas has learned well from Katrina's lessons):

Dear Texas Nurse:

The Texas Board of Nursing is sending you the following message because we have your email address. Your assistance may be needed in the event that Hurricane Dean makes landfall in Texas. If you are willing to volunteer, you are requested not to respond directly to this email but to the web address at the bottom of this message.

By responding, you are giving permission to Ready Texas Nurses/Texas Nurses Foundation to contact you.

Ready Texas Nurses Emergency Response Program, a project of the Texas Nurses Foundation, in its role as a private partner to the State Disaster Health Plan has been asked to identify nurses who may be willing to serve as volunteers in response to Hurricane Dean.

Hurricane Dean has picked up speed and no one knows exactly where Dean may make landfall. The State of Texas begins pre-staging and mobilizing assets 120 hours before hurricane force winds make landfall. With the increased speed of Dean the 120 hours alert could be as early as Saturday, August 18th.

Nurses are reminded that their first responsibility is to fulfill any obligations to their employer, either through their employer’s disaster plan or to carryout job assignments, especially if you are in a 100 mile radius of the disaster area. While the State of Texas has not totally completed its state plan, TNA believes the following are opportunities where nurses may be needed.

A. The State is setting up a system for evacuation of special need patients located in areas impacted by the hurricane. Multiple methods will be used to transport patients/evacuees to San Antonio, where evacuees will be triaged and assigned to appropriate shelters. Nurses will be needed to travel to San Antonio, where they will be assigned to a specially prepared bus and travel on the bus. The nurses will receive triaged patients onto the bus and will oversee and provide care of these patients while traveling back to San Antonio. Nurses accepting these assignments need to be skilled in life support.

B. As with any potential disaster there will be numerous shelters and emergency clinics established around the perimeter of the storm areas. Nurses will be needed for these areas as well. Depending on Dean’s path and where the storm makes landfall, nurses also may be needed to provide shelter support.

DSHS will provide more specific information as that information becomes known, which again will depend on Dean’s path and the impacted areas. Nurses should be able to volunteer for at least three days.

If you are want to volunteer for either of the above opportunities please reply by email to tna@texasnurses.org and provide the following information:

Full Name
RN License #
Phone # (s) where you can be reached during the next 12 hours. Indicate, work or cell phone
Email Addresses – where you can be reached both day or night
Where you can help: (1) Travel to San Antonio to man the special needs buses; or (2) work in one of the Special Needs Shelters (information to follow).

For just-in-time information and a list of recommended items to take with you when you volunteer please visit the Texas Nurses Association’s web site at http://www.texasnurses.org/rtn/rtn.htm.

Obviously, a lot of thought has gone into plnning for "the next Katrina." I haven't volunteered yet, but I'm sure I will as Dean gets closer. Of course, I'll keep you posted.

And, of course, this is all the San Antonio Spurs fault.

Huh? What? Spurs???

Yeeeessssss, the San Antonio Spurs. Every time they win an NBA championship, South Texas suffers a direct hit from a hurricane. In 2005 we got Emily, Katrina, and Rita.

Go, Spurs, Go. First we have to suffer through Tim Duncan's free-throw shooting -- now this. (sigh).

~~JD~~