I did not live through Katrina. I did help with the aftermath in a small way. And although I saw the devastation through the TV, I heard the voices of the desperate over the phone. I work for the state of Texas in its health department and we did what we could to help those without a voice.
I first saw the trouble New Orleans was in on TV. I heard the reports of "nobody can go in" from local reporters who were at first as puzzled by this as I was. Why couldn't they go in? Then I heard reporters asking about the people, no food, no water, no help. Why? I asked myself. Where were the National Guard? The last time I went through a hurricane, the Guard were there before the hurricane even hit! What is going on?
Rumors flew and I knew many more of them in the weeks and months after. But this diary isn't about that. It's about the small part I played in the aftermath.
Like all good people, I wanted to help. The Texas Department of State Health Services asked its people for volunteers to man the phones for a quickly put together project. I had no idea for what, but I went. Because of my job I could only offer two half-days.
Now when one works for the public sector things are much different than in the private or academic sectors. Everything in the public sector must be just so, or you can't do it. Wires must be taped down, there must be so much room between each office/workspace, etc. We are very detailed and with good reason.
So it was quite a shock when I went to man the phones. Wires hung down from the ceiling and spread out like some sort of octopus to desk and phones. On each desk sat a laptop and phone, and large binders that were well used. Large sheets of paper were taped to the walls with strange graphics and meaningless words.
As I sat down, for we could take any seat, another person was just leaving. As she talked to another I heard that she had been at the phones all night. We were manning the phones 24 hours a day and people were calling all the time.
It was then that I gleaned our job. She had been up all night trying to track down some nursing home patients that had flown from New Orleans to Texas and then flown elsewhere when the facilities here became overrun.
I stared at my laptop. The horror was just sinking in. People's elderly relatives had been moved across county and they didn't know where. Not only from nursing homes but also from hospices and patients included those that were severely handicapped as well.
I had heard on the news and read newspaper reports of people being moved, families broken up and going to different places, some in one state and some into another. At least those folks could call and get back in touch somehow. But we were on a different mission. We were to track down all those that couldn't speak for themselves.
It started with the homes and hospices emailing us a list of people's names and where they had shipped them. If the people were shipped out again, the agency was supposed to send us another list telling us where they went.
Basically we were given databases of people's names, ages, and where they were from, and then we added in where they were. Then when their relatives called, we would do searches and give the name of the place where their loved ones ended up.
It was all very round-about and not everyone was in the database and not all homes sent in their lists. Since it wasn't mandatory, we sometimes had to beg them for one.
In our quick training session we were told what to say, how to take notes, and how to look people up. Then we started.
At first it was heartbreaking. We couldn't find anyone. Their names were not in the databases. The homes were sending information to us as quickly as they could. We were told to ask the relatives to call back later because we got updates all the time.
Slowly, the names started to appear. We could do matches and give out where the loved ones where and also give out phone numbers for them to call. I don't know how much long distance time they spent. I felt bad only being able to give them a cold phone number and asking them to call the other places. We also asked the family members, if they learned anything new, to give us another call back and let us know. (Our number was toll free.)
I spent four hours the first day frustrated, as not much was changing. "No, no one listed by that name. Let me have the details and we'll see if a new list is added later. Please keep calling back."
I had one woman who took my advice and kept calling every hour. She seemed to always get my phone. We were on a rotation, so there's a good chance that it would have been someone else. I kept doing her searches and never found a match. Then I had to leave and go back to my regular job. That was hard.
The next day, was a bit more hopeful. Dozens of homes and hospitals sent in lists. Word had gotten around about our phone and data bank. More calls came in. We could help more times than not.
Then I got the same lady. I was hopeful this time and told her so. I checked the database. Sure enough her mother's name came up, and I found that they had moved her to South Carolina into some hospital. I gave a cheer! Then gave her all the information I had. I could hear her tears as she thanked me. We parted and I was happy!
About an hour later, she calls again. Somewhat tearfully she tells me that her mother wasn't at the hospital. I panicked at the thought. Did I tell her wrong? Did I raise false hopes and is she mad at me? No, she was reporting that they had moved everyone from that hospital to a hospice that had agreed to take in everyone that didn't need 24 hour nursing. It was her turn to give the details and I took the notes.
I gave the new information to the people entering in the data. We were grateful for every scrap of it!
As I left for the day I heard this from another co-worker who was manning phones as I was, "OK, if they're not at the hospital they may be at a hospice with the same name in the area...."
We take care of each other. That's the way it's supposed to work. I just wish the national government got that.