Post 4: Hurricane Season

Keeping up with the impact of the many hurricanes over the past month is a bit overwhelming. As a student relying to learn management perspective I try to imagine what life would be like if the hospital I worked at flooded or lost power. What kind of emergency plans do hospitals follow? How do you decide who gets what supplies? For this week’s blog, I am going to talk about a NY times article, One Day in the Life of Battered Puerto Rico, which follows the impact after hurricane Maria in different neighborhoods of Puerto Rico. Throughout the day they interview people who are effected and tell their story- a couple tales pertaining to lack of health care access in this devastating crisis.

One of the stories in the article talks about Doctor Eileen Diaz Cabrera, a physician who has a small clinic in Trujillo Alto, PR. She talks about how she knew that opening her office up after the damage was not really an option, people need care. "We knew there were emergencies we could treat in the office and that there would be patients without prescriptions or those whose insulin had been damaged by the lack of refrigeration.” What a scary thought, right? These people with chronic illnesses can't even manage their own daily routines of medication because of the after math of hurricane Maria. When Dr. Cabrera stepped up to the plate she knew that people would be coming to seek her help immediately. When she got their though, time was running out. She only had a bit of diesel left in her generator. When she contacted two different companies she did not find much help. One company told her she was not even a priority to put on the list. Her patients depend on her care, but to other’s she is not a priority.

I was kind of shocked when I read this article. Putting myself in their shoes is absolutely horrifying. These are people who need medical attention but their doctor cannot even give it to them. Morally as a doctor this must be devastating. Large hospitals are probably the priority, but this small clinic has the same mission of treating people. How can this emergency plan be more efficient? Do your work places have emergency plans?

Link to the article: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/30/us/24-hours-in-puerto-rico-after-hurricane-maria.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=nytmm_FadingSlideShow_item&module=span-ab-top-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news