REPORT: July/August 2006

Broome County nurses help in flood emergency

by Diane Pineiro-Zucker

Residents of upstate New York won’t soon forget the last week of June 2006, when the raging waters of the Susquehanna River flooded homes and businesses.

In Broome County, at the state’s southeastern border with Pennsylvania, more than 1,500 residents were evacuated.

Many of those residents lived in nursing homes. Others were patients at the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton or lived in communities close to the river.

Despite valiant efforts to build berms to hold back rising water, Lourdes was forced to evacuate its patients and staff to hospitals on higher ground on June 28, according to Marita Florini, a family nurse practitioner (NP) and a faculty member at the United Health Services Internal Medicine Residency. Within hours, Vestal Nursing Home evacuated 98 residents to a nearby school building.

“Professionals banded together”

Florini was one of the nurses and other healthcare workers who dropped everything to help. “Many professionals banded together,” she said. “The first order of business was triage.”

“At the Binghamton University Events Center, our local emergency medical technicians, physicians, and NPs admitted anyone presenting and tried to handle the acute needs,” Florini said. “Many diabetics required insulin and other people required medications but were unable to bring them along. Some had been evacuated at 2 or 3 a.m. and had left home with the clothes on their backs. Some were in shock and had mounting anxiety and depression.”

Through it all, NPs and RNs from Binghamton University (BU), the Broome County Health Department, and United Medical Associates managed to assess and address residents’ needs. BU nurses established a database of patients, Florini said, and United Medial Associate pharmacists set up a mini-pharmacy to dispense medications.

Volunteers were everywhere

“There were rows upon rows of Red Cross cots in the Events Center,” Florini said. “I realized the magnitude of what was happening at that point. It was like a M*A*S*H unit. As you moved toward the back third of the floor, it became a special needs unit for the chronically ill, seniors on fixed incomes who weren’t sure of what had happened to their homes and possessions, and families who knew they could never go back because their homes had been destroyed. They all looked sad and in shock, and were grateful for any kind word.”

Karen D’Angelo, a staff nurse at the Broome County Community Alternatives Systems Agency (CASA), also joined relief efforts. “All of the nurses in the community that were available to help were there to assist the American Red Cross,” she said. “At a time of loss and sadness, it was a wonderful feeling to see all of the people who cared for the community and its residents. I wish I could have done more.”

D’Angelo said the local CASA director, her supervisor, and one of her coworkers were also on hand for the rescue effort.

A chance meeting

Florini was particularly moved when she stumbled upon one of her patients who had been evacuated from a local senior citizens’ high-rise apartment building. “Helen sat like a queen in her chair smiling as if she had not a care in the world,” Florini said. “When she saw me she exclaimed, ‘Look – my doctor came to see if I was all right.’ Helen knows I am a nurse practitioner, but tells me to put up with her ‘ways.’”

An insulin-dependent diabetic with dementia, Helen had been well cared for, but no one knew what medications she needed. Fortunately, Florini remembered the medications her patient was taking, was able to contact Helen’s daughter-in-law, and managed to get her to a safe home.

Proud to be a nurse

Another of Florini’s patients faced a rockier road. Patricia, who had developed respiratory distress, had been sent from the Events Center to a hospital emergency department. “On the fifth day of this crisis, she was one of three special-needs folks remaining,” Florini said. “She had been discharged from the hospital and admitted back to the center. Her anxiety was palpable.”

Patricia had no home or belongings but the clothes on her back. A social worker and NP were trying to figure out what her needs were. When Florini arrived, they were concerned with her breathing. After assessing her condition, Florini was able to treat Patricia’s anxiety and give her bronchodilators, which she had not used for about 12 hours.

“Within 30 minutes she was calmer and we began to work on a placement,” Florini said, “This patient needed to be assessed and stabilized for the next week or so. Thankfully, Lourdes at Home (a state certified home health agency and long term home healthcare program) agreed with me and promised to make it work.”

The stories of the efforts of medical professionals abound, Florini said. “Nurses were present and accounted for and I am very, very proud of my colleagues. As I stood and surveyed the scene around me, I watched them hold patients’ hands, change bed linens, and make decisions. The nurses and nurse practitioners remained until the last patient was sent to a safe, warm home. I knew once again what it meant to be a nurse.”