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Around 300 patients were evacuated from New York University Hospital after generators lost power at the height of Hurricane Sandy, Monday night.
New York University Hospital is located near the East River, in an area of lower Manhattan that has been smashed with major flooding and power shortages. NYU said they were prepared with the generators so they did not evacuate patients before the storm. However, they admitted that they did not expect such heavy flooding.
Hurricane Sandy forces hospitals to evacuate (Photo credits: huffingtonpost.com)
According to Dr. Andrew Brotman, senior vice president and vice dean for clinical affairs, the hospital’s basement and elevator shafts began flooding with at least 10 to 12 feet of water on Monday, between 7 and 7:45 pm, then the hospital lost its power. Emergency generators worked but after two hours, about 90% of that power went out and the hospital decided to evacuate.
1000 hospital staff and police had to evacuate the patients, prioritizing the youngest and sickest, as they maneuvered down through the darkened stairwells. Among the first out were 20 babies in neonatal intensive care, where four of the newborns were on respirators that were breathing for them. When the black out happened, each baby was carried down while a nurse manually squeezed a bag to supply air to the baby’s lungs. Since elevators can’t be used, patients being treated for cancer and other serious illnesses were cautiously taken down through staircases.
More than 2 dozens ambulances from around the city responded to the evacuation to help transport the patients to Mount Sinai Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital, New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Long Island Jewish Hospital. Meanwhile, other New York hospitals canceled outpatient appointments and elective surgeries.
Demand for blood supplies urgent
Despite the devastating effect Sandy gave the residents of East Coast, the spirit of unity is palpable in the midst of these trying moments. Everybody who wishes to help can do so by donating to Red Cross. Help may come in the form of food, shelter, clothing, emotional support and other assistance to those affected by Sandy.
Also, blood supplies are low because about 300 hundred blood drives were canceled in 14 states across the East Coast. We cannot allow life-saving surgeries be put on hold just because there are no enough blood supplies at hospitals and blood banks. That is why we are calling all the eligible blood donors, not just in East Coast, but across United States, to roll up their sleeves and donate blood to help alleviate the shortfall.
Here are the upcoming blood drives. Please donate blood if you can. Source: Fox News
Wednesday 10/31/2012
Crosstown Blood Donation Center, 2330 Watt St, Schenectady, 6:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Empire State Plaza, Concourse next to Hallmark Store, Albany, 7:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Sage College, 140 New Scotland Ave, Albany, 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Fuller Road Fire Department, 1342 Central Ave, Albany, 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Thursday 11/01/2012
University at Albany State Quad Anthony Hall, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, 12:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Albany Everett Road Blood Donation Center, 33 Everett Rd, Albany,11:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Crosstown Blood Donation Center, 2330 Watt St, Schenectady, 11:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Friday 11/02/2012
Samaritan Hospital, 2215 Burdett Ave, Troy, 7:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Albany Everett Road Blood Donation Center, 33 Everett Rd, Albany, 6:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Saturday 11/03/2012
Selkirk Fire Company 2, 301 Glenmont Rd, Glenmont, 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Albany Everett Road Blood Donation Center, 33 Everett Rd, Albany, 6:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Sandy is another huge storm America had to face, but let us not allow such superstorm to destroy our hope for a bright future. Together, hand in hand, we can start anew and may this storm make us even more stronger and wiser.
Help eliminate the blood shortage, Join the International Blood Registry.