[Carrie Anne Weeks]

1. What stood out to you with regard to Pou’s arrest? What were you feeling as she was taken to jail. How must she have felt?

After a long day of doing her surgeries at the hospital, Pou came home from work still dressed in her scrubs when she was arrested on pages 329-331. She requested to change into fresh scrubs and asked about her patients. Prior to leaving her house with the authorities she requested to be able to call another doctor on call who would take care of her patients while she was brought in. Pou still cared for her patients. She had surgeons’ hands with now handcuffs on them. It upset her to read she was booked as a fugitive and for second degree murder. I think she was in absolute shock and dumbfounded because it was really happening to her – she was possibly going to go to prison for taking care of patients and doing what she loved most, being a doctor. She was not proven innocent or guilty yet. I felt bad for her. In the beginning of reading this book – I was dead set that what Pou did was wrong but now I am wondering if she really thought she was bringing comfort to suffering patients that she knew would eventually die regardless of the hurricane and floods, etc.

2. Just looking at Foti’s press conference and the response by Pou’s lawyer, Rick Simmons, on what points will innocence or guilt be determined?

Foti was assured that a crime had been committed and more charges will be brought against the medical staff at Memorial because the autopsies of the dead patients showed they were drugged with morphine and Versed. He claimed the combination is fatal. He thought he was making a strong statement about how lethal the drug combination is, but anyone in healthcare would know that the drugs used in combination can be used safely under close monitoring. Foti claimed that the dead patients were not euthanized but murdered. As for Simmons, at his small press conference, he strongly pointed out that Pou was still innocent until proven guilty, and he accused Foti of using the arrests as a political stunt to boost his reputation (as something to get him re-elected as attorney general). Simmons noted that District Attorney Jordan would be prosecuting the case and not Foti. Simmons made a point to say that the affidavit was just a piece of paper and that Pou has done nothing wrong, “no motive…and no homicide” and he blamed the state of Louisiana for abandoning the hospitals which lead to this “extenuating” circumstance of these patients dying (pages 333-336).

3. When it came down to it, “what mattered most and had the greatest immediate effects were the actions and decisions made in the midst of a crisis by individuals” (348). How does one develop the skills necessary to provide leadership during a crisis?

A leader should have the best communication skills with their staff during a disaster. They should know what to do and when to make the best decisions during an emergency. They should promote the best team building with a way to boost morale while doing medical care during a crisis. And they should know all patients’ lives are important and they should all get out of the crisis together.

4. Why did Charity Hospital fare much better during the hurricane? What lessons exists in this example for disaster training and planning?

Charity Hospital fared well because it is an inner-city war zoned hospital. It was a public hospital that had next to no money but somehow always took great care of their patients. They were also prepared for the emergency disaster because the ER doctors were post war veterans who had been through war torn countries that had no power or water or ability to save themselves unless they worked together as a team. They were used to inner city thugs and thieves and knew what to do when gunshots happened. They held meetings every so many hours and continued to provide medical care to all patients including the ones that were transferred to the hospital during the storm. And they were ready with generators to use as back up for emergency power. They only had each other to get through the disaster. On page 371, Charity Hospital made sure the sickest patients were the first to be rescued, not the last.

• This topic was modified 1 year ago by Carrie Anne Weeks.

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