They killed them!

[bsnyder]

Smelly Right



Rich::

Rich!

 

[Jaybrad]

If anyone killed anyone, they should be prosecuted to the fullest.

 

[totalia]

I doubt that will happen given the circumstances.

 

[Bunch24]

Pityful isn't it? They can respond immediately during 9/11 but it takes 5 days to respond for any other emergency. Thats pretty sad.

Little difference between 9/11 and Katrina. 80% of New York wasn't under 20 feet of water for 9/11.

It's hard to coordinate relief efforts when, 18-wheelers full of medical supplies/food/water have a hard time floating.

BTW, did anybody catch the interview with Lt. General Honore on CNN? I think it was during one of their 1-hour specials. It was pretty revealing. He talked a lot about the communication breakdown between city officials and police. He talked about the task of trying to get his troops into a city that had basically been turned into an island. He's definitely one of the biggest (if not the biggest) hero to come out of this. Too bad he had to wait for state clearance to get there, otherwise a lot of the looting/raping/murdering likely would have never happened.

I still don't understand why the Superdome was not stocked with 5-7 days worth of food/water/medical supplies. Seems to me if you're going to send 80,000 people to a "refuge of last resort", you'd at least see to it that it had food and water, at least enough for one day. Local officials didn't have anything there.

Maybe I'm just being very naive, but I think in times like Katrina (and 9/11), the red tape bull has to go. I mean, when you have political leaders waiting on each other to make decisions, it can lead to chaos and confusion. There needs to be some kind of protocol, but there also needs to be instant action.

 

[totalia]

I seem to recall someone saying that it takes three days for emergency systems to respond, not 5 to 7.

5 to 7 is too long. Even the President admitted it.

 

[poohandwendy]

This is very sad. I hope it isn't true. Even if it isn't, it sure is apossibility if something like this happens again. I don't blame the medical personel...what an awful position to be in.

One thing I would like to address:

What would you suggest their plan be? Magic? surrounded by water, no plumbing, no electricity, no security....only the White House has a plan of that type and theirs is funded by our taxes with heavy artiliery and secret bunkers. You and yours keep questioning the judgement of those directly affected. We keep explaining they were trapped. If you can't understand that by now, I don't know how to help you understand. There are some things you just can not plan for.

Actually, hospitals CAN and DO have to plan for these types of situations. And if they haven't yet, we should be demanding that they do so immediately. Our hospitals CAN prepare for lack of electricity...I'd like to know of one that hasn't? They can and DO use emergency generators. They can keep water buffaloes on hand. They also can evacuate less than critical patients in the same triage manner that they use to assess need when they are admitted. (I am not trying to place blame on those currently affected, I am talking about FUTURE planning)

Just like we should be demanding that the president and federal govt implements better planning for situations like this, we HAVE to demand and expect that same disaster response planning from hospitals, schools, police, fire/emergency officials as well as local and state govts too.

Nothing will work if we do not ALL become better prepared. It will do NO GOOD if ONLY the federal govt is expected to fix this and 'handle it' the next time. And make no mistake, there WILL be another catastrophe. It is a guarantee. If we only rely on one level of govt to handle it, we will be just as vulnerable as we were with this situation. And my guess is that it would be just as catastrophic.

This situation should serve as a reminder that EVERYONE, from the citizens to the hospitals, to the local, state and federal govts NEED to get organized. We need to be better prepared. There should not be one person or one private, public or govt institution in this country that isn't planning for worst-case 'what if' scenarios. It is foolish and irresponsible if we don't.

 

[totalia]

Well said.

 

[ToriLammy]

Nothing will work if we do not ALL become better prepared. It will do NO GOOD if ONLY the federal govt is expected to fix this and 'handle it' the next time. And make no mistake, there WILL be another catastrophe. It is a guarantee. If we only rely on one level of govt to handle it, we will be just as vulnerable as we were with this situation. And my guess is that it would be just as catastrophic.

This situation should serve as a reminder that EVERYONE, from the citizens to the hospitals, to the local, state and federal govts NEED to get organized. We need to be better prepared. There should not be one person or one private, public or govt institution in this country that isn't planning for worst-case 'what if' scenarios. It is foolish and irresponsible if we don't.

Great post PAW!

 

[ThAnswr]

But perhaps the Iraqis get what you paid for. No, wait - it seems that your government messed up that job, too

Ain't my government. I don't claim any part of that sack of crap sitting in the WH or his administration. This administration couldn't find their own *** with both hands and a mirror.

 

[ThAnswr]

apropos of the discussion here, I posted this yesterday, and with the exception of a couple of people, most of the Angry Left didn't want to discuss this at all. Which is scary, considering the fact that we'll have other disasters to contend with in the future, long after they don't have President Bush to blame for everything that possibly goes wrong.

No one blamed Bush for everything that went wrong. So, please, either stop making that claim or come up with a link.

 

[luvthatduke]

poohandwendy, I wish you would have
read/posted on a thread I started that has
a similar discussion going on!
I think what you said is right on target.

decentity, thank you for posting the story,
I do believe it as it was the first thing I thought of
when they found the 30+ dead patients in the nursing home.
My first thought was, "I wonder if they drowned or if
someone gave them something beforehand?"

What a terrible position to be placed in,
and God help every city in our nation that doesn't
take this as a wake up call to form some type of plan for their people,
especially the helpless...

 

[janette]

decentity, thank you for posting the story,
I do believe it as it was the first thing I thought of
when they found the 30+ dead patients in the nursing home.
My first thought was, "I wonder if they drowned or if
someone gave them something beforehand?"

Sadly I believe the people referred to here are not those from the nursing home, all indications are that they were killed by the flood. Some were saved by neighbors but they didn't attempt to evacuate until it was too late.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Nothing will work if we do not ALL become better prepared. It will do NO GOOD if ONLY the federal govt is expected to fix this and 'handle it' the next time. And make no mistake, there WILL be another catastrophe. It is a guarantee. If we only rely on one level of govt to handle it, we will be just as vulnerable as we were with this situation. And my guess is that it would be just as catastrophic.

This situation should serve as a reminder that EVERYONE, from the citizens to the hospitals, to the local, state and federal govts NEED to get organized. We need to be better prepared. There should not be one person or one private, public or govt institution in this country that isn't planning for worst-case 'what if' scenarios. It is foolish and irresponsible if we don't.

Gasp...are you talking about personal responsibility??? In this day and age every single person should have a disaster kit even if they live in an area where natural disasters do not normally hit.