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DJP Update 3-28-2007 A book to read! - Code Blue: A
Katrina
Physician’s Memoir by Richard E. Deichmann, MD
Dr. Richard Deichmann is a wonderful ethical physician. I have known him
for many years and worked with him and his colleagues many years ago at the
Mahorner Clinic when I was a consultant to them on risk management, patient
safety, and other issues.
Dr. Deichmann was out of town on vacation, en route to Chapel Hill, North
Carolina, to take his oldest daughter to college for the first time, when
Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans. He decided to return and help at
Memorial Hospital (Formerly known as Baptist Hospital and soon to be renamed
Baptist Hospital) in the event Hurricane Katrina caused problems for the
patients at the hospital. Thus he was in the hospital during the hurricane
and when the levees broke trapping 2000 people in the hospital. The tale he
relates in this book is spellbinding. Most people will have tears flowing
while reading. I certainly did. He rises to the occasion during
this crisis and I salute him for his courage and compassion. You will meet
many heroic people including another dear friend, Dr. John Walsh, Jr., a
surgeon trained at Tulane.
Leaders rise to the occasion and they do what has to be done. The doctors
did just that in this story. In one example, Dr. Deichmann was loading a
very ill patient on a rescue helicopter. He was challenged by someone in
the hospital who stated: "Dr. Deichmann, you are sending patients to places
that have not formally accepted them. ...You just can't do that. We need to
contact the receiving facility and get confirmation first...." "EMTALA
requires certain procedures before transferring a patient". Needless
to say, Dr. Deichmann realized that the patient might die waiting for a
phone contact with "spotty to non-existent" communication services and he
continued to load patients and send them to safety and emergency care.
If someone wrote this book as a fiction book detailing an event
that occurred in America, it would not be believed. America thirsts
for leaders in government who "walk the halls" and are prepared
for disasters. Even when it was known that there were all of these people
trapped, immediate rescue did not occur. A Texan who drove from Texas with
a boat and who was turned away by the authorities, persisted and found a way
to get the boat to the hospital and help with rescue. That is the true
American Spirit. Not the ineffectual actions by some of the elected false
"leaders" who come on like gangbusters and then fail to rise to a crisis.
Sham "leaders" are filled with indecision, finger-pointing, and "Brownian
Motion."
Enough comments from me. Strongly recommend you read this book. See more
info below.
Info from Rooftop Publishing:
http://www.rooftoppublishing.com/OurBooks/codebluekatrina.aspx
"Code Blue: A Katrina Physician's Memoir" is currently available on RooftopPublishing.com.
The book will be available via Amazon.com and major bookstores next week."
A toxic stew of floodwaters surrounded Memorial Medical Center in
New Orleans after Katrina when the levees broke. Over two thousand
people were trapped in the squalid conditions without security as the
death toll steadily rose inside. Bodies stacked up in the chapel as
the temperature soared in the overcrowded hospital and the situation became
increasingly desperate. Doctors, nurses, and staff worked around the clock,
caring for those inside and trying to evacuate the facility, also known as
Baptist Hospital. Allegations of euthanasia would later make headlines
across the country and be investigated by state and local officials.
Code Blue: A Katrina Physician’s Memoir finally tells the inside story of
the hellish nightmare those who struggled to survive the ordeal were cast
into. Dr. Richard Deichmann, the hospital’s chief of medicine and one of the
leaders of the evacuation, gives his compelling account of the rapidly
deteriorating state of affairs at the hospital. He takes us through the
daily horrors and numbing disappointments. This gripping tale of survival,
despite betrayal and abandonment by the authorities, may change forever the
way you view the threat of a mass disaster.
Author Info:
Richard Deichmann graduated from Tulane medical school and completed his
training in Internal Medicine at the University of North Carolina in Chapel
Hill, NC. He moved back to his hometown after completing his training in
1986 and had practiced at Baptist Hospital until Katrina. He continues his
work as a physician, teacher, and clinical researcher at Ochsner Medical
Center.
Dr. Deichmann, an avid triathlete, lives in the New Orleans area with his
wife and his three daughters.
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Code Blue: A Katrina Physician’s Memoir
by Richard E. Deichmann, M.D.
Format: 6 x 9 softcover
Page Count: 204
ISBN: 978-1-60008-026-5
Price: $19.95
Publication Date: April, 2007
Ordering Information
Call our order hotline at 1-888-280-7715 to place your order.
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Stay well,
Donald
P.S. An AMA recognition award for this physician would be wonderful!
Donald J. Palmisano, MD, JD
Intrepid Resources / The Medical Risk Manager Company
5000 West Esplanade Ave., #432
Metairie, LA 70006
504-455-4895 office
504-455-9392 fax
312-560-0180 cell
DJP@intrepidresources.com
www.intrepidresources.com
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