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On Hurricane Alert
Healed from Katrina Damage, Garden Park Prepares for Future StormsMISSISSIPPI GULF COAST--Four years ago this month, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the nation's costliest natural disaster, striking Garden Park Medical Center and other medical facilities in its path, and dramatically altering the way healthcare providers think about hurricanes.
"Garden Park sustained moderate damage to the exterior of its four-story building, especially along the front of the building near the emergency department, the roof, and in the back of the hospital where the generator was housed," said Julie Bosley, director of business development for Garden Park. "Fortunately, though, no windows were broken, and the second, third, and fourth floors received very little damage during the storm, with the main problem being water leaks from the roof."
Flooding represented the major damage to the hospital.
"Despite being seven miles north of the coastline, the hospital incurred four to six inches of flooding during the storm from the neighboring creek and area bayous," said Bosley. "In the height of the storm, up to two feet of water surrounded the building, but fortunately only a minimal amount entered the building through doorway cracks and drains."
The hospital remained open during the storm, as staff continued to care for patients on the second and third floors.
"The emergency room was inaccessible for a few hours, but was up and running by the time the water had receded," she said. "Professional remediation crews had stayed in house during the storm and were instrumental in helping us maintain our key services such as ER, lab and radiology."
Because of the flooding, Garden Park renovated the entire first floor after the storm, concentrating on patient care areas first and then non-clinical areas. The surgery department, repaired first, was totally renovated three weeks after the storm, allowing the hospital to resume surgical services. Other clinical areas were finished within three months, and non-clinical areas were done by March 2006.
"Since Katrina, the hospital also completed other upgrades to the building with storm resistance roofing, shatter proof windows, installation of a water well on campus, and adding more effective emergency power capability," said Bosley. "In
addition, the hospital updated its disaster plan to reflect changes officials felt would improve the hospital's readiness and response. All of these changes helped make the disaster plan run much more smoothly during Hurricane Gustav."
Some of the changes to the disaster plan since Katrina include:
"In addition to these changes, Garden Park and other area hospitals joined forces with the local HAM radio operators association to educate the public and staff on the uses of HAM radio, how to operate the equipment, and proper communication procedures," said Bosley. "Since then, the hospitals have installed HAM radio equipment with the help of a grant, and licensed HAM radio operators to voluntarily man them during emergencies."
Bosley said Garden Park continues to routinely review its disaster plan and makes changes as needed.
"Special emphasis is placed every year on hurricane preparation, which includes reviewing appropriate policies and procedures as well as educating employees and updating contact information," she said. "The hospital stresses the importance to employees and the medical staff of having a personal disaster preparation plan in place for their home and family so that they're ready to report to work when needed."
The hospital recently participated in the coast-wide Lifesaver 2009 exercise designed to help emergency responders, hospitals, and public agencies practice implementing their disaster response plans. After completing the exercise, hospital officials were able to tweak the plan.
"Garden Park officials feel confident that the changes they've made, along with the lessons learned from Katrina, make them well-prepared for future storms," said Bosley. "Hurricane Gustav, which threatened the area last August, gave the hospital an opportunity to do a trial run as they activated their disaster plan, and everything worked very well. Of course, hospital employees, along with everyone else on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, are certainly hoping for a very quiet hurricane season this year."
Even though most of the major hurricane activity occurs during August and September, the Atlantic hurricane season officially ends Nov. 30. Bookmark:
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