![]() On Wednesday they started setting up our temporary hospital. Sunday-Wednesday they set up an emergency triage off I-44. They tore it down on Saturday and brought it to us on Sunday. They had drilled on the Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) the week before and had just set it up. This date had been planned in advance two years earlier. They had planned an earthquake drill for May 15 (one week before the tornado hit). The State Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) was in Branson, MO, the week before the tornado. On Tuesday I got a call to come to the hospital on Wednesday. One hundred and eighty patients were evacuated out of the main hospital in under 90 minutes. Nurses, techs, and therapists were calm and directing patients to the nearest truck, bus, or van. I will never forget how well everyone worked together. The more stable were taken in buses to any hospital that had room, or to the Memorial Hall Center. The critical were taken in the back of pick-up trucks to Freeman Hospital across the street. We took patients and started filling up school buses. Joplin High School buses started arriving. ![]() Patients had cuts, blood, and glass all over their bodies. Patients were huddled together in dark rooms with nurses and flashlights. The main hospital had been evacuated to the Medical Office Building. I heard someone yell that they were afraid the building would explode. ![]() The smell of natural gas was thick in the air. I drove near the hospital and ran to the Medical Office Building. After showing my badge to one cop he yelled at me, “Park and run!” I ran home and drove straight to work.Ībout six blocks from the hospital nothing was recognizable. I immediately had tears in my eyes thinking of my co-workers. Sheets were blowing out the windows like ghosts. The hospital I had worked at for 12 years had taken a direct hit. I watched in horror as a gentlemen from the Weather Channel stood in the middle of broken 2 x 4s, begging for medical help. It was about an hour after the tornado hit that I stopped to watch the weather. We were late for dinner at my parents, who live a few minutes away, so we went to eat. Usually, I enjoy watching the clouds from my front porch, but this time it was different. On Sunday, May 22, at 5:15 p.m., my family and I climbed under our house due to the tornado sirens. Her story was featured on CBS and CNN, and in this article in the Joplin Globe.įrom Christopher Cox, RRT, Orientation Coordinator, St. One RT student lost his home while another married a week after the disaster. They did an OUTSTANDING job, despite the fact that some of their own students were hard hit by the storm. A pharmacist was also on duty to assist with medication. ![]() The third floor provided many necessary beds due to the wonderfully supplied health science labs. Faculty and senior respiratory students provided aid to the injured. Since one of Joplin's main hospitals had been destroyed, the third floor of the Health Sciences building at Missouri Southern was transformed into a triage/hospital setting. The respiratory, nursing, and radiology faculty, along with their senior students who could make it, provided life saving measures immediately after the tornado. (Editor’s Note: See a photo of them in the Joplin photo gallery.) ![]() While the fine respiratory department at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin has a humble spirit about them, I think it is worth mentioning the wonderful service they and their colleagues performed on Sun., May 22, after the Joplin tornado. These are stories sent in by members talking about what they have seen:įrom Gary Dillard, MA, RRT-NPS-SDS, CPFT, RPSGT, Sylva, NC. ![]()
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