Generator failure during Ida at La. hospital spurs scramble to move ICU patients

 The partial loss of generator power Sunday at a Louisiana hospital in the path of Hurricane Ida sent doctors and nurses scrambling to keep patients breathing as they moved them to a different area.

Patients at Thibodaux Regional Health System in Lafourche Parish were bagged by hand, meaning hospital staff manually pushed air in and out of their lungs in place of mechanical ventilation, while they were transported to another floor, according to officials with the Louisiana Department of Health. Other generators in the hospital are still in working order, according to Dr. Joe Kanter, the state's chief health officer, as workers and patients there continue to ride out the storm. 

Officials from Thibodaux Regional Health System posted on social media around 7 p.m. Sunday that "the backup generator that was affected earlier by winds from the hurricane is back online at the current time."

"Due to the unknown impacts that the storm may still produce we are closely monitoring the situation," they added. "We continue to provide a safe environment for our patients and staff."

State Reps. Jerome Zeringue and Tanner Magee, both Republicans from Houma, said they received reports of problems at the hospital Sunday afternoon. Zeringue said he was in touch with a physician who reported that generators failed in the hospital's intensive-care unit and described conditions inside as "Katrinaesque." 

Patients had to be transferred from the ICU to the hospital's post-anesthesia care unit using the hospital's stairwell, Magee and Zeringue said. It isn't clear how many patients were moved.

A representative from the hospital did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Social media posts from the medical center said “high winds caused a temporary issue” with one of the hospital's backup generators.

Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana's coast as a powerful Category 4 storm, with its eye close to Houma just south of Thibodaux, according to a 5 p.m. update from the National Weather Service. A monitoring system at the South Lafourche airport recorded sustained winds at 93 miles per hour, with gusts up to 122 miles per hour. 

The 911 system in Lafourche Parish, where the hospital is located, is no longer working, according to the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office. Residents in need of emergency assistance can call (985) 772-4810 or (985) 772-4824. “If busy, keep trying,” the sheriff’s office wrote online. 

https://www.nola.com/news/hurricane/article_5f268aaa-0912-11ec-a8fb-d3a108e9db9f.html