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VOA \u2014 NEW ORLEANS – Louisianians woke up Wednesday, Aug. 26 to news that Laura would be arriving as a Category 4 hurricane.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe storm was expected to\u00a0hit Lake Charles early Thursday morning.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Throughout\u00a0the day, doctors,\u00a0nurses,\u00a0maintenance and cafeteria workers\u00a0filled Lake Charles Memorial Hospital.\u00a0The plan was\u00a0for\u00a0several shifts of employees\u00a0to be\u00a0ready\u00a0once\u00a0the\u00a0winds\u00a0picked\u00a0up that night.\u00a0Whole floors were designated as sleeping areas for off-duty staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Gary Kohler, a pulmonary critical care physician, arrived for his shift at 6:30 a.m.\u00a0He remembered sensing how nervous everyone was in those hours before the storm.\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one wanted to be alone,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we were on break, a lot of us would sit around a table together. It was a shared fear of not knowing what was coming.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2005,\u00a0the hospital\u00a0was\u00a0evacuated before Hurricane Rita\u00a0arrived\u00a0and devastated the city. Hurricane Laura was predicted to be\u00a0more ferocious.\u00a0But this time,\u00a0there were\u00a0no\u00a0plans to\u00a0leave.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cYou can\u2019t help but wonder what\u2019s going to hold and what isn\u2019t,\u00a0both at the hospital, but also at your home,\u201d\u00a0Kohler said.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0calm\u00a0before\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n As the strengthening hurricane headed for the Louisiana-Texas border,\u00a01.5 million residents were ordered to evacuate.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Most chose to heed the warning,\u00a0particularly\u00a0residents\u00a0in Lake Charles,\u00a0a city of\u00a080,000\u00a0that\u00a0bore the brunt of the\u00a0storm.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Tens of thousands of\u00a0the city\u2019s\u00a0residents evacuated to areas north, east and west on Wednesday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But some\u00a0were asked to stay.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur families left town,\u201d Kohler told VOA. \u201cBut as long as there were patients at the hospital, we were going to be there.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Kohler\u00a0works in the intensive care unit\u00a0(ICU)\u00a0treating\u00a0the\u00a0critically ill.\u00a0During a normal year, patients in the ICU might include those with heart, lung and kidney ailments, or those who suffered strokes or are battling major infections. But this year, a separate wing\u00a0is reserved for patients who tested positive for the coronavirus.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur patients tend to be the sickest in the hospital\u00a0\u2014\u00a0that\u2019s why they\u2019re in the ICU,\u201d\u00a0Kohler\u00a0explained.\u00a0\u201cAnd we\u2019ve been hit pretty hard by COVID patients this year, which has made the work a lot more challenging.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Louisiana has the highest number of cumulative\u00a0coronavirus cases per capita of any state in\u00a0the U.S.\u00a0Kohler said\u00a0Lake Charles Memorial\u00a0had so many patients this summer from a second wave of the virus that multiple patients\u00a0were placed in\u00a0a single room.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a lot of very sick patients we\u2019re taking care of,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cAnd when it became clear how strong Hurricane Laura was going to be when it hit us, I knew it had the potential to be a long night.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Nagging\u00a0fears\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n A storm surge of nine feet was predicted for parts of Lake Charles.\u00a0Everyone at the hospital knew\u00a0that\u00a0if the building lost water,\u00a0they would\u00a0not\u00a0be able to\u00a0properly\u00a0sanitize themselves\u00a0or\u00a0their patients.\u00a0And if the\u00a0power went out\u00a0and the generators\u00a0did\u00a0not\u00a0operate,\u00a0they\u00a0would\u00a0have to manually sustain patients on ventilators.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Shannon Williams,\u00a0an ICU registered nurse,\u00a0arrived\u00a0Wednesday at 5:45 a.m.\u00a0She called the storm the scariest moment of her life.\u00a0 Laura\u00a0hits\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Kohler and Williams said\u00a0the\u00a0wind began to pick up around 8:30 p.m. Shortly after that, the hospital lost its main power source.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was concerned we lost power so early and before the main part of the storm arrived,\u201d Kohler said.\u00a0\u201cBut fortunately,\u00a0the generators kicked on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The generators are only meant to keep the essential functions of the hospital running, which does not include air conditioning.\u00a0The\u00a0lack of air conditioning\u00a0is a\u00a0serious\u00a0problem in southern Louisiana,\u00a0where temperatures\u00a0and humidity climb to unbearable heights during summer months.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kohler recalled the\u00a0uncomfortable\u00a0situation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was soaked with sweat,\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0\u201cBut the nurses\u00a0\u2014\u00a0they\u2019re dressed for hours in their PPEs\u00a0(personal\u00a0protective\u00a0equipment),\u00a0and they looked like they had just come in from a rainstorm.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Kohler\u00a0said it was so humid in the hospital, the flooring was\u00a0slick from condensation.\u00a0The windows leaked from the rainfall.\u00a0<\/p>\n Around 1 a.m.\u00a0Thursday, Williams said the wind\u00a0sounded like a train speeding\u00a0past the east side of the building where she was trying to sleep.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A maintenance worker checked\u00a0the situation.\u00a0The news was\u00a0not\u00a0good.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThese are six-foot-tall windows, so you could see some random debris smashing against them,\u201d\u00a0she\u00a0said.\u00a0\u201cAnd the maintenance guy said it\u2019s because the window was warped\u00a0\u2014\u00a0you could see them flexing in and out\u00a0\u2014\u00a0which is why water was also leaking in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The storm caused many of the windows in the hospital to warp, including those in the ICU. The immediate danger was that the windows would shatter, leaving no protection from the storm outside.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Williams said\u00a0the\u00a0nurses\u00a0frantically\u00a0thought of ways\u00a0to protect\u00a0the\u00a0patients and themselves should the windows burst. One window did collapse, creating a\u00a0noisy\u00a0wind tunnel in the ICU.\u00a0But the remaining\u00a0windows managed to hold.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou had patients crying, and just generally really afraid,\u201d Kohler said. \u201cThey were so hot and uncomfortable, and it was a scary experience. Plus,\u00a0who knows when they saw their family last\u00a0\u2014\u00a0family members aren\u2019t allowed to visit COVID patients.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Kohler said the toughest moment of the night for him was when the\u00a0hospital\u2019s\u00a0water stopped\u00a0running.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t stay sterile if you can\u2019t wash your hands,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cWe couldn\u2019t even flush toilets anymore, let alone think about doing a procedure. At that point,\u00a0you just hope a patient doesn\u2019t require anything big.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The aftermath\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n For the remainder of the night,\u00a0the\u00a0phones were\u00a0not\u00a0working,\u00a0and employees had no idea what was happening outside.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur focus was on making our patients as comfortable as possible, and our nurses did an incredible job,\u201d Kohler said.\u00a0<\/p>\n He\u00a0explained that\u00a0in the middle of the storm,\u00a0some nurses\u00a0took\u00a0a\u00a0device\u00a0designed to heat patients\u00a0and repurposed it\u00a0to\u00a0keep them\u00a0cool.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey did everything they could to keep our patients comfortable,” Kohler said.\u00a0\u201cOur nurses are the real heroes of this hurricane.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Kohler said he woke up at 6 a.m.\u00a0Thursday\u00a0and\u00a0could see\u00a0outside for the first time since\u00a0Laura\u00a0made landfall.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI could see a neighborhood across the street from our hospital, and\u00a0it was hard to find a home that didn\u2019t have a tree through their roof,\u201d he said. \u201cTrees on roofs.\u00a0Roofs gone.\u00a0Trees inside houses.\u00a0Electrical poles down.\u00a0Debris all over the street.\u00a0It\u2019s hard to imagine my city ever being the same.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But there was no time to think about the future. The\u00a0staff\u00a0still had work to do.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just extremely proud of our resilience,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThe next day,\u00a0we still had no air conditioning and no water. We still had no idea what was happening in the outside world,\u00a0or what happened to our homes.\u00a0But we kept working for our patients.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Williams said\u00a0the moment\u00a0when the winds died down,\u00a0and she realized everyone would survive,\u00a0was\u00a0when\u00a0she\u00a0finally\u00a0breathed\u00a0a sigh of relief.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Kohler\u2019s\u00a0moment came\u00a0Thursday afternoon,\u00a0when ambulances from Mississippi, Georgia and Kentucky\u00a0arrived\u00a0to transport critically ill patients to other hospitals.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s where you felt the collective sigh of relief,\u201d\u00a0he\u00a0said. \u201cThat\u2019s when it felt like we made it. We had never lost the ability to give medication. We had never lost the ability to give blood. And we had never lost the ability to give antibiotics. We did a good job.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n On Friday,\u00a0when it became clear that the city might not have water or electricity for three weeks or more,\u00a0the announcement was made that the hospital would be completely evacuated.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Patients were evacuated\u00a0that day. The\u00a0staff stayed until the last one left.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI saw heroes,\u201d Kohler said. \u201cThe nurses, the maintenance workers, the cafeteria workers. They sacrificed themselves for the patients at this hospital. They\u2019re heroes,\u00a0and they\u2019ll be ready to get back to work when it\u2019s time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" VOA \u2014 NEW ORLEANS – Louisianians woke up Wednesday, Aug. 26 to news that Laura would be arriving as a Category 4 hurricane.\u00a0 The storm was expected to\u00a0hit Lake Charles early Thursday morning.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Throughout\u00a0the day, doctors,\u00a0nurses,\u00a0maintenance and cafeteria workers\u00a0filled Lake Charles Memorial Hospital.\u00a0The plan was\u00a0for\u00a0several shifts of employees\u00a0to be\u00a0ready\u00a0once\u00a0the\u00a0winds\u00a0picked\u00a0up that night.\u00a0Whole floors were designated as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":88630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recposts"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["fa","en"],"languages":{"fa":{"title":true,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88628"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88632,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88628\/revisions\/88632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/im-media.voltron.voanews.com\/Drupal\/01live-166\/styles\/sourced_410px_wide\/s3\/2020-09\/Screenshot_20200901-134331_Chrome.jpg?itok=eMpqkxNx\")
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\n\u201cTo be honest, my biggest fear was that the building was going to collapse on us,\u00a0and that all that would be left of my co-workers, patients and me was a very sad story,\u201d\u00a0she said.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/im-media.voltron.voanews.com\/Drupal\/01live-166\/styles\/sourced_410px_wide\/s3\/2020-09\/17536.jpeg?itok=lGFUr2Rx\")
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