Word from Ben Taub Hospital

Justin is an emergency medicine resident at one of Houston's biggest hospitals. Here is what he was up to yesterday:

From: Justin Kreizelman
Subject : RITA-FIED

To all my friends-

Hey there- just a quick note to the many of you who have already contacted me - or have been trying to contact me. Things here in Houston have become pretty intense. The lull before the storm has definitely set in.. weather today was mid 90's not a cloud in the sky and the streets/ highways heading east from the medical center (towards Galveston and my home) were nearly empty with the exception of many state patrol cars and a few scattered Houstonians.

Gas pumps were taped up, grocery stores/pharmacies - shut down. Those who
remained were on ladders putting up plywood around their homes, and carried heaps of canned goods into shelter. Arriving home i find a few neighbors working together in preparation for the hurricane. Over a few beers they discuss war stories of old storms and predictions of what Rita was to bring while climbing up ladders to fortify their windows. Having had my head in the University Of Texas Dept of Orthopedics for the last 3 weeks I, of course, haven't been as organized.

Despite this, the hospital has already become a fortress and haven for the many employees of UT medical center- as i find nurses and doctors hauling luggage and their trailing families to the many call rooms and conference rooms set up to house the staff and people in low lying areas of the city. On call today, 75% of my consults were directly or indirectly linked to the storm- people falling off ladders, evacuees getting in car wrecks, one drunk even shot himself in the leg to gain hospital shelter from the storm. The worst case i had so far was a 28 yo previously healthy guy who fell while helping his neighbor trim tree in preparation for Rita. The unlucky guy sustained a thoracic vert. (back injury) that compressed his spinal cord and will most likely leave him paralyzed from the waist down.

Tomorrow, i will return to the hospital, take care of my patients and then come home to work on getting my act and house together in preparation for the storm..I am on call again on Sunday, however there is an understanding that myself and the other residents will most likely be unable to return, and the unlucky ones who are on call Friday/Sat will be the "skeleton crew" until the post-hurricane flood waters subside. It is too late to flee- all highways heading North/West are parking lots with cars running out of gas and getting towed off into the emergency lanes, as nearly 4 + million people attempt to evacuate this huge metropolitan area....

As a Northerner, one who has never experienced a natural disaster of this proportion, I really have no idea what to expect, nor really believe this is going to happen. However, at this point, i really must rely on meteorologists, a map with a HUGE circling red and orange orb heading through the gulf, and my colleagues and friends unfortunate enough to have been through one of these disasters.

Be well- take care
Justin

btw, for those of you interested- Brandy is busy
doing laps and getting buff in my pool outside in preparation.

Note: Brandy is Justin's chocolate labrador. (The Dylan quote for this section is "And my best friend, my doctorWon't even say what it is I've got")