I do not feel that the Memorial Methodist Hospital should be charged with negligence in an unexpected emergency situation like Katrina. There is no way for the hospital to prepare for such an emergency, and the building itself, as well as most hospitals in the area at the time, were not constructed to handle fifteen feet of flooding in their generator room. The hospital staff has the responsibility to care for their patients, but can't be held responsible for the death of a patient when a natural disaster knocks out their power. The nurses traded off manually pumping air into the patients lungs for over fifteen hours, but were unable to save her.
The family is asking for $11.7 million in damages because they said the hospital did not properly prepare for the hurricane. In the event that the hospital knew that their generators would be flooded, what steps could the hospital take to stop a power outage?There is no way each patient could be removed from the hospital or transported to a location where a power outage could not occur, and it is not the responsibility of the nurses and staff to make such changes.
The hospital most definitely should not be charged with negligence for it will make civil lawsuits to be limitless in claims. In a country where natural disasters seem to be prominent to each specific region, every area of the United States will be more likely to be held responsible for an act made by nature (rather than by mankind) if the hospital is found liable in this case. And even if the hospital had thought of every single precaution before every type of natural disaster occurred, it is quoted in the article that there is no possible way for a generator to be in working condition when submerged by fifteen feet of water. Therefore, this case (or lack of case) should have been evident when the term "natural disaster" was coined; the violent affects of Hurricane Katrina were simply out of mankind's hands.
I do not feel that the Memorial Methodist Hospital should be charged with negligence in an unexpected emergency situation like Katrina. There is no way for the hospital to prepare for such an emergency, and the building itself, as well as most hospitals in the area at the time, were not constructed to handle fifteen feet of flooding in their generator room. The hospital staff has the responsibility to care for their patients, but can't be held responsible for the death of a patient when a natural disaster knocks out their power. The nurses traded off manually pumping air into the patients lungs for over fifteen hours, but were unable to save her.
ReplyDeleteThe family is asking for $11.7 million in damages because they said the hospital did not properly prepare for the hurricane. In the event that the hospital knew that their generators would be flooded, what steps could the hospital take to stop a power outage?There is no way each patient could be removed from the hospital or transported to a location where a power outage could not occur, and it is not the responsibility of the nurses and staff to make such changes.
The hospital most definitely should not be charged with negligence for it will make civil lawsuits to be limitless in claims. In a country where natural disasters seem to be prominent to each specific region, every area of the United States will be more likely to be held responsible for an act made by nature (rather than by mankind) if the hospital is found liable in this case. And even if the hospital had thought of every single precaution before every type of natural disaster occurred, it is quoted in the article that there is no possible way for a generator to be in working condition when submerged by fifteen feet of water. Therefore, this case (or lack of case) should have been evident when the term "natural disaster" was coined; the violent affects of Hurricane Katrina were simply out of mankind's hands.
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