Katrina physician talks ethics in crisis care
Few physicians have lived the nightmare Anna Pou, MD, endured seven years ago. The otolaryngologist and professor at Louisiana State University Health Sci- ences Center garnered national atten- tion for her experience treating critically ill patients at New Orleans’ Memorial Medical Center under harsh and horrific conditions in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
In 2006, the Louisiana Department of Justice charged her with murder in the deaths of four patients, but a New Or- leans grand jury never indicted her on the charges. Since then, Dr. Pou helped write and
pass three laws in Louisiana that provide legal protections for health professionals for their work in future disasters. She also advocates change in the standards of medical care in emergencies. She was the General Session speaker
at TexMed 2012 in Dallas, informing physicians about legal and ethical con- siderations in crisis care. Dr. Pou began her discussion by painting an ominous picture of the con- ditions she and 2,000 others struggled to survive. “After the storm hit, we watched wa- ter continue to rise throughout the city hour by hour. We lost generator power the first day after the hurricane made landfall, and we had very little food and no running water. No one could see their hands in front of their faces, and we had no cell phone communication. We couldn’t open the windows, and temper- atures reached 105 degrees inside. The stench of human waste filled the air, and we had inadequate security at the hospi- tal,” she said. The for-profit hospital where Dr. Pou and other medical professionals were trapped had no evacuation plan in place and no written medical protocols to de- termine the provision of medical care in a crisis.
“This can happen to anyone. You need to ask yourself whether you’re really pre- pared for what you might face in a cata- strophic event,” she said.
Because the hospital was ill equipped
to provide medical care to patients fol- lowing Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Pou says the facility became a shelter from the storm.
“I felt like I was on the Titanic. By day
three in the hospital, I felt like I was liv- ing in a third-world country. Medical re- cordkeeping went by the wayside, and we had critically ill patients in stretchers on the floor. Every decision becomes an ethical dilemma under mass casualty cir- cumstances,” she said. By day four, all patients had been evacuated, but Dr. Pou would come to realize her work was just beginning. Af- ter defending her medical license and professional reputation in the courts, Dr. Pou went to work reforming laws gov- erning medical care in natural disasters. Thanks to the advocacy of Dr. Pou and other medical professionals, the Louisiana Legislature has passed di- saster medicine reforms that aid future patients in need of health care during declared disasters; insure physicians’ ability to exercise clinical judgment dur- ing disasters; and encourage the employ- ment of physicians and nurses to serve in disaster areas.
To read disaster medicine reform
measures passed in Louisiana, visit the Committee for Disaster Medicine Reform website,
http://cdmr.org. Dr. Pou concluded her presentation to a standing ovation.
Anna Pou, MD, described to a TexMed 2012 General Session audience the nightmarish conditions she faced while trying to care for patients trapped in a hospital flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
For the 14th year, the TMA Board of Trustees awarded nine $5,000 scholarships to gifted minority medical students at TexMed 2012. Recipients pictured with TMA President Michael Speer, MD, center, and Deborah A. Fuller, MD, TMA Foundation Board of Trustees member, right, are, left to right, Matthew Edwards, Jorge Restrepo, Victoria Nunez, Stephanie Annor, Keren Elias, Armstrong Ibe, Brianna Desire, Rogelio Garcia, and Hunter Fuentes.
July 2012 TEXAS MEDICINE 15
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