(CNN) Even as Hurricane Laura bore down on a hospital in Lake Charles, Louisiana, someone had to watch the babies.
Winds howled, water leaked through windows and the generators kicked on at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. Despite it all, the NICU staff kept all 19 of its babies safe through the Category 4 storm.
"It's important to know the dedication of all the nurses and the respiratory therapists to keep taking care of the babies when they don't even know the condition of their homes," Dr. Juan Bossano told CNN on Thursday. "In a small town like this, people have to pull together. I'm proud of them."
The residents of Lake Charles knew the hurricane was headed for their city, with mandatory evacuation order in place. The city got some of the worst of the storm , with an hour of 120-135 mph wind gusts as the eyewall crossed, according to the National Weather Service.
Bossano and a team of 14 nurses, 2 neonatal nurse practitioners and 3 respiratory therapists hunkered down in the NICU all night, he said. Two teams took shifts caring for the little angels, the staff trying to get some sleep when they could.
rea_g on August 30th, 2020 at 03:21 UTC »
One of those nurses is my mom. The rest of my family took their campers to Oklahoma to wait it out, and she stayed. Their house doesn't have a roof, but everyone is okay.
YourUndoing on August 30th, 2020 at 02:53 UTC »
This is more normal than it sounds. My wife works in the lab of a local major hospital. It specifies in her contract that she must not evacuate for any storm unless directed to do so by Hospital Management or the State/Federal Gov't. This is pretty standard for most hospital employees other than non-essential staff.
Mediocre_Doctor on August 30th, 2020 at 01:16 UTC »
Most (all?) hospitals in hurricane-prone areas designate 50% of their staff to ride out the storm, however long it may last. This is the A team. During Irma in 2017 some facilities had their A teams stay 48-72 hours. They call you in way ahead of landfall. People who did not show for their shifts were fired.