We could not find any pediatric C collars in the darkness, and water from the shattered main pipes was once again showering down upon all of us. This was a child, his whole life ahead of him, suffering life threatening wounds in front of me, his eyes pleading me to help him. I could actually count his vertebrae with my fingers. The gaping wound revealed his cervical spine and upper thoracic spine bones. A small child of approximately 3-4 years of age was crying he had a large avulsion of skin to his neck and spine. We didn’t even have the option of trying a nebulizer treatment or steroids, but I was able to get him intubated using a flashlight that I held in my mouth. I immediately moved on to the next patient, an asthmatic in status asthmaticus. Imagine my relief when I heard a big rush of air, and breath sounds again fortunately, I was able to get him transported out. With his life threatening injuries I knew he was running out of time, and it had to be done. He allowed me to do this without any local anesthetic since none could be found. He was a trooper I’ll never forget his courage. After a quick exam, I removed the large shard of glass from his back, made the clinical diagnosis of a pneumothorax (collapsed lung) and gathered supplies from wherever I could locate them to insert a thoracostomy tube in him. I remember a patient in his early 20’s gasping for breath, telling me that he was going to die. We had no cell phone service in the first hour, so we were not even able to call for help and backup in the ED. There was no power, but our mental generators were up and running, and on high test adrenaline. Where did all the flashlights come from? I’ll never know, but immediately, and thankfully, my years of training in emergency procedures kicked in. We had to use flashlights to direct ourselves to the crying and wounded. The frightening aroma of methane gas leaking from the broken gas lines permeated the air we knew, but did not dare mention aloud, what that meant. The floor was covered with about 3 inches of water, there was no power, not even backup generators, rendering it completely dark and eerie in the ED. They were limping, bleeding, crying, terrified, with debris and glass sticking out of them, just thankful to be alive. Patients were coming into the ED in droves. ” That’s the only way that I can describe what we saw next. We didn’t know, but hoped that it was safe enough to go back out to the ED, find the rest of the staff and patients, and assess our losses. We looked at each other, terrified, and thanked God that we were alive. The hospital had just taken a direct hit from a category EF5 tornado. The whole process took about 45 seconds, but seemed like eternity. We could feel a tight pressure in our heads as the tornado annihilated the hospital and the surrounding area. We suffered this in complete darkness, unaware of anyone else’s status, worried, scared. The whole hospital shook and vibrated as we heard glass shattering, light bulbs popping, walls collapsing, people screaming, the ceiling caving in above us, and water pipes breaking, showering water down on everything. We heard a loud horrifying sound like a large locomotive ripping through the hospital. Together, Shilo and I tremored and huddled under a desk. We were to start bringing patients to safer spots within the ED and hospital.Īt 5:42 pm a security guard yelled to everyone, “Take cover! We are about to get hit by a tornado!” I ran with a pregnant RN, Shilo Cook, while others scattered to various places, to the only place that I was familiar with in the hospital without windows, a small doctor’s office in the ED. I learned that a “code gray” was being called. Although I work in Joplin and went to medical school in Oklahoma, I live in New Jersey, and I have never seen or been in a tornado. At approximately 5:30 pm we received a warning that a tornado had been spotted. Things were normal for the first hour and half. As I drove to the hospital I mentally prepared for my shift as I always do, but nothing could ever have prepared me for what was going to happen on this shift. The day started like any other day for me: waking up, eating, going to the gym, showering, and going to my 4:00 pm ER shift.
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