“My RT and work family has been great,” says Wade, “offering to help in Some of her daughter’s things have been found as far as 25 miles away,īut the family continues to cope with the help of family and friends. “I am sorry to say he didn’t make it,” she said. “The devastation is unreal.” She and her family pitched in to help with the recovery Monday morning, digging a neighbor out of the rubble. “We were late getting home from out of town, and that is a blessing,” she told us. Hospitals, and respiratory therapists played an important role in thisĪARC member Heather Wade, RRT-NPS, a center manager at Lincare, was driving home from a trip when the tornado struck and arrived only to find that her house had been leveled by the storm. John's Hospital was damaged by the tornado and was evacuated to other Of the AARC House of Delegates and hails from Wentzville, MO. Says Bill Lamb, BS, RRT, CPFT, FAARC, who is currently serving as speaker "Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this disaster," John’s Regional Medical CenterĮspecially hard, killing five ICU patients on ventilators and one visitor The AARC has activated its Disaster Relief Fund to help support members in the affected area, and we’ve also been networking with our members in Missouri to learn more about how this monster storm affected respiratory therapists and their health care facilities.Īs most people know, the tornado struck St. Leaving a swath of destruction covering about 30% of the city and causingĪt least 122 deaths and 750 injuries. My advice to all patients, based on this, is to keep an ongoing journal of their treatment so that they have a record in case of emergencies.The entire nation was shocked to learn of the massive devastation causedīy the EF5 tornado that ripped through Joplin, MO, on Sunday evening, All patients needing treatment were accommodated into our schedule, and although we didn’t depend on patients to know their treatments, it helped if they remembered. Some of the casts used for radiation therapy were retrieved, and charts with dried, crinkled pages were salvageable in some cases. John’s worked quickly to get computers operating and a working telephone number up to call for patient information. I got calls from patients who said they were due for treatment, but often they did not know what they were getting or how they should proceed. Many patients with cancer came to nearby Via Christi Hospital to continue their radiation treatment. In the days following the tornado, salvage teams were able to recover some of the charts and computers, but many records were lost forever John’s, glass had been blown out of the windows, rain had poured in, pipes had ruptured, water was everywhere, and wires were down. In Joplin, it was dark and debris was everywhere one volunteer was driving on a flat tire to transport patients to the hospital. In total, 140 volunteers showed up to help, some with food to feed the extra hands. It needed to be evacuated, nearby Freeman hospital became quickly overwhelmed with patients, and the surrounding community prepared for action.Īt our hospital, off-shift workers arrived to volunteer without even being called, and our emergency preparedness plan went into effect immediately. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin was hit so hard that it is still unusable. When a severe tornado hit Joplin, MO, on the evening of May 22, 2011, the situation was serious. Editor's note: This article was originally published in ONS Connect in May 2012.Īs reported to Contributing Editor Christine Bosley, BSN, RN, OCN®
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