HJNO Mar/Apr 2025

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  MAR / APR 2025 19 and now you're having all these additional agencies that are just doing their job as well. How do you coordinate all that? Because there was this terrorism aspect, it was not only patient care, but also a police investigation that's got national security concerns. So, there were a lot of other peo- ple that got involved that, typically, we don't directly interact with. That just makes it a little bit more complicated on the back end. Lacy To piggyback on that is the fact that we're a tourist town, and a lot of our victims are tourists. So, there's that added aspect of, like Jeff was saying earlier, coordinating their care after they leave here out of town. Not just coordinating their EMS transfer out of here, but getting them to an airport and getting them on planes to get to their rehab center. All of that is just an added layer with the out-of-town folks. Some of the victims were citizens of other countries. I think they got a couple of phone calls from consulates. That's just another layer that I don't think we really planned for. But like Dr. Greiffenstein said earlier, we were able to pivot. And we had enough flexibility in our plan to be able to pivot and include those things and, because of Dr. Elder's contacts, reach out and get the right answers so that we could do what we need to do. Editor How would you grade your response to this MCI, A to F? Greiffenstein I put an A on that one! Lacy I put an A on, honestly. Maslanka I was blown away when I came in that day and saw what that team had accomplished; they did everything that they have trained to do, and there really isn't anything I would change. Elder When I walked in, obviously, you hear this is happening, you get nervous because you don't know what it really looks like. I didn't want to call the hospital because I knew there was a lot going on, so I didn't want to have to bother anybody. And I'm seven minutes away. I was going to show up, and I walked in, and it was this organized movement of patients. I was just really proud really early on because, in the first couple minutes, I knew they had the team that was there, and this was with nobody extra, no help. The team that was there in the middle of the night was handling the incident, and it was going. So, for that, they get an A-plus. I feel like we really were able to pivot into this, what became an all-day family reunification, car- ing for the patient. In the first couple hours, sure, you're still dealing with the patients, but they have complex injuries; they end up in the OR all day long, they're going back the next day and the next day and the next day, so that then continues. Then you add on the complexities of the terrorism event and the coordination there, the family reunification, and I think the team did a good job to be able to pivot to make all that happen. Maslanka To Jeff's credit, we couldn't have had a better person in charge who was more prepared for this and better to lead the entire response. Elder It was officially day one as CMO. It was officially … Editor Really! Elder Yes, Allison Smith, who is our trauma medical director, it was her day one as trauma medical director. Both of us have been around here for a while, but we were in brand new positions, and it was officially day one. Baudouin But I think you do have to grade the response an A overall because of not only how effective it went, but no incident is ever going to be the same. No response will ever be seamless or perfect because of that. We always encounter new elements, but it's how you're able to adapt and to scale to that disaster that makes this really what we would consider such a success in response. I just want to highlight that for those who are not familiar with emergency management and disasters, this disaster looked like this. We're going to remember it because of some of those human aspects that we really had to put on it for this time, but the next one, God forbid it ever happens, is going to look differently, too. We'll continue to grow and adapt based on that, but it'll never look the same. I think what we can say is that this one was a huge success, and we hope it sets us up for our next success. Editor Nice. Maslanka In the meantime, we're going to drill, drill, drill. Editor I want to thank each of you for sharing your insights, your expertise, your personal reflections today. What you experienced that night is something few can truly understand. Your willingness to speak will help shape the way hospitals and trauma units and trauma teams prepare for the next crisis. You guys have been through it. These lessons are critical, not just for UMC, but for hospitals and emergency responders everywhere. My hope is that today's conversation will lead to meaningful improvements in trauma care, emergency preparedness, and policy changes that can make a difference. Thank you all for your service. I'm glad you got an A. Baudouin Thank you for the exposure. And to your point, it is really important that we continue to talk about this in order to help others and ourselves continue to improve. We appreciate the opportunity to speak. n