Canadian nurse in Florida preparing for busy few days in Hurricane Irma’s wake

While she hopes nobody will be hurt during the hurricane, she says the team at the Mount Sinai Medical Centre in Miami Beach, where she works, will be ready.

She said the hospital was still quiet on Friday, but that some patients had been transferred from the Florida Keys and other evacuation zones. Other patients were flown as far away as Alabama.

Staff have been sorted into two teams — one that will work during the hurricane and one that will come in after.

The hospital will be closed during the storm, but patients who are already there will remain under the care of “Team A,” explained Teske Wissler, a nurse supervisor responsible for co-ordinating and assigning staff after the hurricane.

“A lot of the nurses and the staff that are in evacuation areas are Team A,” she said. “They’ll go to the hospital because they have no place to go.”

Teske Wissler, whose home is just outside the evacuation zone, is on “Team B.”

They’re the ones that will take over after the hurricane passes over the state, once the first team leaves to assess the damage to their homes.

“Everyone is pretty nervous,” she said.

Teske Wissler says medical emergencies are well co-ordinated in the sector and the hospital has a detailed plan for handling disaster situations with dozens of wounded.

The Jackson Health System in Miami-Dade County was placed in a state of emergency as of 7 a.m. Saturday.

The storm is expected to reach Florida on Sunday, with wind and rain moving in on Saturday.

Stephanie Marin, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Canadian nurse in Florida preparing for busy few days in Hurricane Irma’s wake

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