Memorial Hospital Case Study

Policy changes Like many other hospitals, Memorial waited for help to come from the National Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). FEMA is expected to provide guidance in natural and man-made disasters, furthermore, they are not meant to take over situations (Shoup, 2005). In advance of the disaster the then Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco wrote to President Bush requesting a disaster declaration to allow federal assistance. The emergency responses were delayed by bureaucratic process, poor communication and lack of coordination of resources. Additionally, millions of federal dollars were devoted to responding to terrorist attacks and not on natural disasters (Shoup, 2005). FEMA received substantial criticism for the poor management post Katrina. In 2006, the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (PETS) was enacted to include family pets and service animals to be evacuated with residents facing disaster (AVMA, n.d.). The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health care Organization (JCAHO) sets standards for health care organizations; organizations which want JCAHO accreditation meets the standards. The standards for disaster preparedness have been updated due to the significant disasters of the
Emergency preparedness at the hospital, JCAHO and FEMA focused on what events already occurred and not what could happen. The physician defended her decision to medicate with a lethal cocktail as easing the severe human suffering. Right or wrong the physician in the center of the story still practices medicine and works to pass laws protecting health care workers from civil lawsuits for care provided during disasters. The assertion is informed concept cannot be received in a disaster, making the physician and nurses the primary advocate for patient decisions (Fink,