Hurricane Slams Hospital

This book contains both true and fictional stories about a real hurricane that slammed into a hospital the author was working in at the time as a registered nurse. Many of the events actually happened with some of them embellished or some simply made up for impact. The story has a heavy comedic tone to the book due to some quirky characters that make the lives of two Nursing Supervisors, Nick and Laura, difficult while they tried to provide safety to their patients. AN EXCERPT IN THE BOOK: WHEN HE ARRIVED AT THE BASEMENT, remembering his latest conversation with Bob, he found himself worrying about the emergency generators. If he remembered correctly, they were only six feet off the floor. Only three more feet of water to go, he deduced. Bob and his men had left the basement. No one was there. There was a queer sort of silence which gave him the creeps. “When Margo and her employees moved the supplies, they left the tubes behind because they were located on one of the high shelves in the back of that department,” Laura said. SINCE THERE WAS VERY LITTLE CHOICE in the matter, since the patient might die if they didn’t obtain the Blakemore tube that would stop the bleeding. Laura had told him where he could locate the tube once he reached the Central Supply department in the basement. Margo had told her that they were located on the top of a shelf in the back of the room. No sense in rolling up my pants legs, he thought. The water is all the way up to my butt. He stood up. Might as well get it over with, he decided. After wading to the back of the room, since the shelf was about twelve feet from the floor, he wondered how he was going to reach the top. Glancing around the room, over to one side, he saw a ladder that was obviously used to get up on the top shelves. After climbing to the top shelf and finding what he was looking for, he took three packages of the tubes and started to back down the ladder. SUDDENLY, WITHOUT WARNING, a snake popped its head up out of the supplies on the top shelf and lunged toward Nick, his fangs shining in the dim light. Involuntarily, he threw himself backward and away from the snake, winding up in the water. Although his head went underwater, he managed to hold the packages of Blakemore tubes out of the water so that they would not get wet. He wasn’t about to climb back up to that shelf again. As he waded his way back to the stairs, Laura screamed in horror, “Watch out!” His fear increased. He couldn’t resist turning to see for himself what was frightening Laura. When he turned to look, he saw not one but three snakes in hot pursuit of him. Simple fear turned to terror, and he knew he had to think quickly to avoid being bitten by one of them, or maybe all three of them. LAURA REACHED OUT TO GRAB NICK’S HAND. She intended to assist him up onto the stairwell landing, but just as he started up the steps, one of the snakes snapped its head back then lunged forward to bite Nick on the leg. The snake missed by inches but scared Nick so badly that he involuntarily recoiled backward, and he lost his footing on the stairs. As he fell backward, Laura was still holding a grip on him, and he inadvertently pulled her in with him. After hitting the water, she immediately went underwater, and the three snakes swam right over her. Coming up within a few seconds, she screamed, yelled, and became hysterical. In making so much noise, she scared the snakes temporarily away from them. Quickly, Nick scrambled out of the water to safety and pulled Laura up on the steps. Grabbing the tubes, Nick grabbed Laura by the arm and quickly ran up the stairs toward the first floor of the hospital. When they finally reached the first floor, they stopped momentarily to catch their breaths. Nick shuddered. “I hate snakes!”