MMS, Physician Volunteers Help Katrina Evacuees

by Tom Walsh

One of the first things Jonathan Spector, M.D., noticed on the drive south from Montgomery, Alabama, to Biloxi, Mississippi, was the extent of destruction from Hurricane Katrina many miles from the coast.

“Even 30 to 40 miles inland, there was hurricane damage everywhere,” Dr. Spector told Vital Signs upon his return from two weeks of volunteer work in storm-ravaged Mississippi. “Roofs removed, billboards blown over, gas stations destroyed,” said Dr. Spector, chair of the MMS Global Medicine Committee and one of numerous Massachusetts physicians who pitched in to help either on the Gulf Coast or on Cape Cod, where two planeloads of Katrina evacuees eventually landed.

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Spector, M.D. Jonathan Spector, M.D., helped the American Red Cross make epidemiological assessments of evacuees housed in shelters in Mississippi.

Dr. Spector’s job was to help the American Red Cross make rapid epidemiological assessments at shelters in places such as Biloxi and Gulfport — coastal communities devastated by Katrina. “The objective,” said Dr. Spector, “was to ensure that shelter residents were not in danger from a public health perspective, around issues such as water, sanitation, food access, shelter, and security.” He was also instrumental in setting up a statewide public health surveillance program that monitored evacuee health using an infectious-disease hotline.

Caring on the Cape
Many efforts of Massachusetts physicians to provide relief to Hurricane Katrina victims in the aftermath of the furious late August storm took place here in the Bay State. Bruce S. Auerbach, M.D., an emergency physician and chair of the MMS Ad Hoc Committee on Physician Preparedness, will always remember how tired the Louisiana evacuees looked as they got off the plane at Otis Air National Guard Base on the Cape at 2:45 a.m. that Friday. “Despite the trauma and exhaustion, they were all unbelievably grateful and appeared to be relieved to be here,” said Dr. Auerbach.

The head of emergency medicine at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, Dr. Auerbach was part of an MMS physician and staff contingent that worked closely with the state Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Hospital Association, and the state Emergency Management Agency to coordinate and deliver medical and public health services on the Gulf Coast and to the more than 200 evacuees flown to Cape Cod. Among the scores of volunteers on the Cape were numerous MMS members.

Dr. Auerbach was one of those responsible for turning Air National Guard facilities into functional health care facilities, and he eventually became the medical director for the night shift at Otis.

“Massachusetts people did an unbelievable job,” Dr. Auerbach said. “It restored my faith in humanity to see the way the state’s residents and professionals, all volunteers, responded to the needs of these individuals.”

Photo by Tom Sullivan, M.D. One challenge for volunteer physicians at Otis Air Force Base was to transform military buildings into functional medical clinics and triage centers.

Doctors Got Right to Work
Like Dr. Auerbach, Sean Palfrey, M.D., a Boston Medical Center pediatrician, watched Katrina evacuees make their way down the long stairs from the airplane at Otis. “Parents were leading their children, being cheered and applauded, with shy and surprised smiles on their faces,” Dr. Palfrey recalls. “One of them said he had first hated the idea of coming here, but now he wanted to call his friends and tell them it was going to be okay. Clearly, this was a result of the warm reception.”

Applause aside, there was a tremendous amount of work to be done in a very short time.

Judith Palfrey, M.D., a pediatrician like her husband Sean, helped direct the transformation of an airplane hangar at Otis into a triage center for patients as they arrived. Sean Palfrey was instrumental in setting up a small building on the base for use as an emergency medical clinic. “The building had not been used for anything for a while,” he said. “We needed electricians to install more outlets. The response was overwhelmingly positive.”

Some Sad Stories
Thomas E. Sullivan, M.D., an MMS past president, cardiologist, and expert in medical technology, heeded the call for volunteers on the Cape.

“One of the evacuees I saw was brought in an ambulance,” Dr. Sullivan recalled. “She was in her early 40s, had high blood pressure, and with the hurricane, she had not been taking her medications regularly.” Dr. Sullivan worked with a local pharmacy to straighten that problem out and even drove to the store himself to pick up needed supplies.

Amid the altruistic displays of volunteerism and cooperation, sadness often prevailed. Recalled Dr. Sullivan, “An immigrant from Southeast Asia who had been separated from his wife for 10 years after coming to this country was finally reunited with her after she arrived in New Orleans about a year ago. He ran a small but successful store in New Orleans. Then the hurricane hit, and they lost everything. He had no insurance. His wife was beside herself.”

MMS Played Central Role
MMS staff was in daily communication with physicians and with the other health care and emergency agencies involved in Katrina relief. The Society was also instrumental in addressing the professional-liability and workers-compensation issues that arise for physicians in any volunteer relief effort (see related article).

To foster timely communications, the Society provided updated information on the home page of its website and sent out daily bulletins via Vital Signs This Week, the Society’s electronic newsletter.

The MMS also demonstrated its concern through generosity. The MMS and Alliance Charitable Foundation quickly began a fundraising effort to help Gulf Coast physicians rebuild and reopen their storm-damaged practices. The MMS contributed $10,000 to the Foundation’s Disaster Relief Fund and committed to match $75,000 in contributions to the fund. The MMS Alliance contributed $1,000 and will match $7,500 in contributions.

Human Resiliency Recalled
Notwithstanding all the coordinating and communicating required to bring the relief effort together, it was the people — the patients — that seemed to make the biggest impression among physician volunteers.

Talking of the child evacuees, Dr. Sean Palfrey said, “Several of the younger children looked completely dazed. Some were limp or cringing in their mothers’ arms when they got off the plane. Then, three to four hours later, these same kids were running around and playing, well fed, happy that they had toys. Their initial fear and disorientation were quickly dispelled by the warm response and caring treatment.”

For Dr. Spector, the Mississippi experience was a lesson in optimism in the face of abject adversity. “I learned about the resiliency and nobility of people faced with such a significant disruption in their lives and livelihoods,” he said. “These people maintained a remarkable sense of optimism, and they found the power to carry on with their lives.”

He also will not forget the outpouring of support from Massachusetts and elsewhere. “Every shelter had Red Cross volunteers from all over the country,” Dr. Spector said. “Volunteers were driving supply trucks, cooking meals, spending all night in the shelters. It felt very good to be part of a group that was so concerned.”