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Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsLocal newsCongressional Hearing: Official Admits Poor Handling of Medical Evacuees

Congressional Hearing: Official Admits Poor Handling of Medical Evacuees

Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett (File photo)
Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett (File photo)

*Updated*There was a muted mea culpa offered this week at a hearing by a Congressional subcommittee held on St. Thomas. The hasty removal of the sick could have been handled better and, one officials said, would be the next time around.

At Monday’s public hearing one official tasked with transporting patients described a situation plagued by confusion and said, “there will always have to be improvement.”

That comment by Health and Human Services Emergency Coordinator Murad Raheem to Congressman Blake Farenthold came when discussions before the House Subcommittee on the Interior, Energy and the Environment turned to the subject of medical evacuees.

Farenthold chairs the subcommittee. Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) is the ranking member.

Evacuation took 682 Virgin Islanders off island after the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, among them, more than 250 patients needing kidney dialysis. Some among them have described harrowing conditions experienced. Some have died.

The hearing took place Monday on St. Thomas in the chambers of the V.I. Legislature. Congress members and their staff came to hear about impacts from and management of naturalx disasters from the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Without making a direct reference HHS’s Raheem alluded to situations where patients and medical records did not follow the patient.

“Clearly the last one … those evacuations occurred on a very emergent basis,” Raheem said. Because patients are being moved in haste responders “don’t always get all the details collected at the moment.”

The relative of one evacuee submitted written testimony about her family’s ordeal. Former V.I. Senator and Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds Esannason spoke about the death of her son-in-law, V.I. Police Sgt. Aaron Hodge, 46.

In doing so, Esannason invoked the names of others who had met similar fates.

In her testimony, which Plaskett referred to at the hearing, the former lawmaker asked how and why.

“This is but a small sample of persons who died away from home, away from loved ones after having been taken from the Virgin Islands by FEMA. The stories of lack of communications with family, of patients being lost, of persons being evacuated without their medication, or proper identification, or without a change of clothing are very much the same,” Esannason said.

Mistakes were made, Raheem said, but as a new hurricane season approaches, if a weather emergency occurs, protocols will be in place.

“Obviously this is after the fact. After this current season, if that need arises again, using that established (information technology) systems in conjunction and coordination with the (Virgin Islands) Department of Health is a critical planning factor,” he said.

Richard Motta Jr., a Plaskett spokesman, said the delegate wanted to raise the handling of medical evacuees as one of the subjects covered on Monday. The reasons, he said, is because constituents have been calling her office and approaching her in public settings to lodge complaints.

One complaint left outstanding is the number of Virgin Islanders who have returned home after being sent away as part of the disaster response.

“This is one of the questions we’ve been trying to get answered. We’ve been pressing FEMA for those answers. That’s an answer that we’ve been looking for as well and we’ve requested that in writing,” Motta said. “We’ve received quite a few complaints from constituents. I know it’s something the delegate has been interested in and that’s one of the reasons why she asked the question in a subcommittee hearing, so she could have it entered into the Congressional record.”

Editor’s note: This story has been modified to remove an assertion that could not be verified.

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7 COMMENTS

  1. While the whole situation was complex and uncomfortable for the patients and families, what did they really expect? Should the patients have been left here then to likely die? Would that have been a more acceptable strategy for them and their families? A lifeline was provided. A rescue from dire circumstances. Perhaps if they had actually ever paid for medical care or medical insurance in their lives, they might understand the massive cost of this rescue effort. This entitlement attitude is absolutely breaking the budget. And the lack of gratitude by the recipients of expensive emergency evacuation is infuriating, but really not surprising. I not only pay for medical insurance premiums, but also for an emergency medical evacuation policy. And when I do go to the mainland for medical issues, I foot the bill for my transportation, meals and accommodations. No one helps me out, nor do I expect them to.

    • Check your facts. Medical evacuees included persons with medical insurance and medical air service insurance. Evacuation was the decision of the local and federal authorities due to the condition of our hospitals and the patients. You obviously were not hospitalized during that harrowing time so don’t belittle the seriousness of the situation.

  2. I believe you miss my point. Evacuation was absolutely necessary, but it seems the evacuees and their families have more criticism and complaints about the help they received, than actual thankfulness and gratitude that their lives were saved. I believe some family members of patients also expected the VI government to cover their travel and accommodations. This is what I take exception to. No good deed goes unpunished.

    • One course of action that could have been taken is to deploy the U.S. Naval Hospital ships the USNS Mercy or the USNS Comfort. These ships have accommodation of up to 1000 hospital beds each and provides all aspect of health care from Emergeny Room, Operations/Surgery to Dentistry. The ships has a water purification system on board to provide water for those who needed dialysis treatment. This way medical records could be made available and residents and their family members wouldn’t have had to be evacuated under stress and confusion. They could of remain at home and be able to attend to their homes along with other concerns they may have to as a result of the hurricanes. This would of probably save lives and money.

  3. What should we expect from anyone in VI government leadership? Nothing is ever corrected. Nobody is ever held accountable. No official management or financial records ever accurate. Embezzlement, outright dishonesty and abusive spending by elected’s and their puppets, is the name of the game.