Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
According to Rinnert, the main advantages of
a surge facility site such as a convention center
include the flexibility of the space, which can
be cordoned off as circumstances dictate, and the
availability of air conditioning in a climate that
normally averages more than 100
Fahrenheit in
September. Several disadvantages were the austere
appearance of the site, which had bare concrete
floors and harsh fluorescent lighting, and the
absence of showering facilities. Overall, however,
the convention center proved to be a satisfactory
environment for a surge facility.
Kathy J. Rinnert, M.D., MPH, served as the
primary source of information for this case study.
Institute and attending physician at Earl K. Long
Hospital, a part of LSU's Health Care Services
Division, to set up the special needs shelter.
Cain then asked Stephen Barr, assistant technical
director of the LSU Theater, to help convert the
field house into a special-needs hospital, primarily
for nursing home patients.
Setting up the surge hospital
The PMAC began as a medical triage facility, but
was soon transformed into a surge hospital. The
800-bed facility at the PMAC became the largest
acute care field hospital to be established in the
U.S. since the Civil War.
The LSU administration drew on its student
government to take charge of the volunteer efforts
of the students, faculty, and staff. The student
leaders set up a volunteer hotline and Web site
for volunteer registration. They handled more than
1,000 calls per day from people at LSU who
wanted to volunteer or provide lodging to displaced
persons or emergency personnel. Student volun-
teers staffed 80 to 90 people per shift to work
in both hospitals. After the schedules were final-
ized, the students called volunteers back to give
them their shift assignments. The student leaders
managed nonmedical volunteers both at the field
house and at the PMAC. Eighty-five nonmedical
volunteers worked 12-hour shifts daily. Student
volunteers also helped set up the surge facilities by
moving boxes, setting up shelves and tables, and
performing other nonmedical tasks. LSU Chan-
cellor Sean O'Keefe met with medical staff daily
to assess their most pressing needs.
A significant number of health care providers
arrived from out of state. For example, the Illinois
Medical Emergency Response Team assisted teams
from medical centers in Texas as well as local
medical volunteers from Baton Rouge, especially
those from St Elizabeth's Hospital.
The special-needs hospital at the field house
took only approximately two days to establish
because the state had experience in creating
back-up special-needs facilities for nursing home
patients who have to be evacuated because of
power outages and other similar problems. Setting
Case Study 3: Basketball arena and field
house at Louisiana State University,
Baton Rouge
Planning for the surge hospital
When Jimmy Guidry, M.D., the state health officer
of Louisiana and medical director for the Louisiana
Department of Health & Hospitals (DHH), heard
that large numbers of patients had not been evac-
uated from New Orleans hospitals and nursing
homes before Hurricane Katrina hit, he decided
that the state needed to have an additional acute
care facility in place in Baton Rouge, knowing
that existing hospitals would be inundated with
patients. Raymond Swienton, M.D., served as an
advisor to Guidry to aid in the selection of the site
for this surge hospital. Because of a longstanding
relationship between the DHH and Louisiana
State University (LSU), Guidry selected Chris
Trevino, M.D., director of emergency medicine at
St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Gonzales, Louisiana,
and medical director of emergency medical services
for the state of Louisiana, to oversee the estab-
lishment of a surge hospital at the university.
Guidry then chose theLSUPeteMaravichAssembly
Center (PMAC), a basketball arena, as the site of
the surge hospital and LSU's Carl Maddox Field
House, located next door, as a special needs shelter.
The two sites were chosen because of their size
and the availability of medical staff from LSU.
Guidry selected Walter Cain, M.D., medical
director of LSU's Fire and Emergency Training
