Wow I started looking up Hurricane Ike blogs and seeing what pictures people had posted and ran across an article I found VERY interesting since Nick and I talk about the same thing at home. I have made the title a link to the blog itself but thought I would just directly post it here for you.
Taken from "Daily Kos" blog:
Hurricane Ike Horrors
by martygrn
Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 07:15:34 AM PDT
I am a nurse who has just completed volunteer working approximately 120 hours as the clinic director in a Hurricane Ike evacuation shelter in Houston, Texas. 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 Ike. 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?
martygrn's diary :: ::
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 the store, 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 family who I haven't only seen 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 co pay while the FEMA declaration allows the uninsured person to acquire free medications under the disaster rules?
Does it seem odd that the people volunteering at the shelter are 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?
I am really curious at to the thoughts of the people here. Why is this side of the problem not shown on newscasts? I know I have asked a lot of questions, but it is the only way I know to make the point. Again, the main question is where does the responsibility on the part of the evacuee's themselves start?
Monday, September 29, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
That sounds really bad! No, that side is never shown.
Yes it does and it is so sad that this is how some people act during a time like this. There are always those who take advantage of everyone and everything around them. It is sad. of course I will say the other side of that is the news doesn't show how many neighborhoods came together and helped each other out. In my neighborhood there was a manager of a Chile's restaurant who went to his restaurant and got all the meat before it spoiled and passed it around the neighborhood for everyone to BBQ and there were extension cords across the streets from people sharing generators for their freezers. So it's not all bad but it certainly isn't all good either! Thanks for commenting!
Post a Comment