Health Workers Stayed Behind To Care For Newborn Babies During Hurricane

• When Category 4 Hurricane Laura hit the city of Lake Charles, Louisiana, an evacuation order was put in place. 
• But that was an impossible option for newborn babies who are still in the NICU.
• That is why the brave health workers at the Lake Charles Memorial Hospital decided to stay behind with them to keep them safe.

Babies are most fragile during their first days in neonatal intensive care. That’s why, it was impossible to evacuate the 19 newborn babies even after an order was imposed in response to the Category 4 Hurricane Laura threats in the city of Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Health workers at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital were determined to not leave the babies amidst the danger should they not be evacuated safely.

Hurricane Laura was running wild in 135 miles per hour devastating the town, and yet neonatologist Dr. Juan Bossano together with his team of 14 nurses, three respiratory therapists, and two neonatal nurse practitioners, decided to stay in the NICU, caring for the little ones, as the storm raged outside throughout the night. 

Earlier that day, the babies were transferred from the hospital’s single-story building to its much sturdier 10-floor main building. Some babies were on ventilators, some were in respirators, and some of them were born premature.

“We transferred 19 NICU babies from that facility to our main campus…in record time—19 babies across the city in under two hours.”

Everybody helped each other to safely transfer the baby including all the equipment necessary for the infants’ care. As the peak of the storm whipped the city, the staff were in the hall with the babies keeping them as far away from the wind and rain as they possibly could.

“It’s important to know the dedication of all the nurses and the respiratory therapists to keep taking care of the babies when they don’t even know the condition of their homes,” Dr. Bossano told CNN. “In a small town like this, people have to pull together. I’m proud of them.”

They even lost the air conditioning system and the water source but Dr. Bossano kept updating the worried parents through a series of Facebook posts.

Thankfully, all of the tiny ones are well after the storm was over. They have also been transferred to other NICUs with better vital service. 

 “This morning because the babies were stable, I got a couple of hours of sleep—we are still in the hospital,” Dr. Bossano said.

Their bravery is something that needs to be celebrated!

Source: Good News Network