Only FEMA would order a doctor who volunteered to come down and help hurricane victims in New Orleans to stop saving lives.
In the midst of administering chest compressions to a dying woman several days after Hurricane Katrina struck, Dr. Mark N. Perlmutter was ordered to stop by a federal official because he wasn’t registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“I begged him to let me continue,” said Perlmutter, who left his home and practice as an orthopedic surgeon in Pennsylvania to come to Louisiana and volunteer to care for hurricane victims. “People were dying, and I was the only doctor on the tarmac (at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport) where scores of nonresponsive patients lay on stretchers. Two patients died in front of me.
“I showed him (the U.S. Coast Guard official in charge) my medical credentials. I had tried to get through to FEMA for 12 hours the day before and finally gave up. I asked him to let me stay until I was replaced by another doctor, but he refused. He said he was afraid of being sued. I informed him about the Good Samaritan laws and asked him if he was willing to let people die so the government wouldn’t be sued, but he would not back down. I had to leave.”
This doc says he was also at Ground Zero on 9/11, and lied to get in there so he could help people. He also brought a family of evacuees back home with him and is working to facilitate the relocation of other evacuees to Pennsylvania. Yeah, he sounds like exactly the kind of guy you don’t want coming around when disaster strikes. I’m guessing that if there’s a terrorist attack, doctors rushing to the scene to offer their help will also be turned away by FEMA.
Can we still blame this on Michael Brown? Or will we have to be satisfied with blaming the Bush administration? Watch for the wingnuts to blame “frivilous lawsuits” instead.
<em>Can we still blame this on Michael Brown? Or will we have to be satisfied with blaming the Bush administration? Watch for the wingnuts to blame “frivilous lawsuits” instead.</em>
Also watch for them to claim that it shows why we need to cut the estate-tax, expand the powers of the executive branch, and invade Iran.
It just keeps getting worse and worse!
The good book says in essence: "When form becomes more important than substance, truth is lost and so is the cause."
Too bad, idots have made errors like this before, why should we be surprised. The purpose of the Civil War was to establish Centralized Government, now we reap the wonderful benifits.
An informed citizen.
Did I miss something?
It sounded like the Coast Guard official already blamed frivilous lawsuits (fear of being sued).
One complaint, no waiting.