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Doomed nursing home had offer of bus transport
Times-Picayune (New Orleans) ^ | Saturday, September 10, 2005 | Paul Rioux

Posted on 09/10/2005 10:07:46 PM PDT by Mount Athos

Less than 24 hours before Hurricane Katrina began ravaging St. Bernard Parish with 140 mph winds and a 20-foot storm surge, Coroner Bryan Bertucci made an urgent call to the owner of St. Rita's Nursing Home near Poydras.

"I told her I had two buses and two drivers who could evacuate all 70 of her residents and take them anywhere she wanted to go," he said.

But Mabel Mangano refused the offer. "She told me, 'I have five nurses and a generator, and we're going to stay here,'" Bertucci said.

It turned out to be a tragic decision.

On Wednesday, nine days after the storm had passed, Bertucci watched as a dozen workers from a federal agency that specializes in handling mass casualties began the gruesome task of removing about 30 decomposing bodies from the still-flooded nursing home.

On Thursday, Attorney General Charles Foti Jr. announced he's launching an investigation into the deaths at the nursing home. "I want answers. I want to know why those people were trapped and were not evacuated," Foti said. The storm pounded through the parish's levees, unleashing raging floodwaters that knocked able-bodied men off their feet. At the single-story, privately-owned nursing home, residents confined to their beds or wheelchairs were quickly overwhelmed by the rapidly rising water, Bertucci said.

As the storm raged, neighbors and firefighters in boats rescued about 40 nurses and residents, carrying some -out on their mattresses. But rescuers could not save everyone. The body of an elderly woman wearing a housedress was found on a concrete patio near the front door. An elderly man's body was slumped over the back of a chair, a recovery worker said.

(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Louisiana
KEYWORDS: buses; elderly; evacuation; katrina
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To: ikka

Yep. That is where the final decision comes from.


21 posted on 09/10/2005 10:40:31 PM PDT by CindyDawg
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To: Old Professer

When the consequence is death, and the reason is negligence, it seems that most states should already have criminal statutes to cover that.


22 posted on 09/10/2005 10:41:31 PM PDT by kenth (north Georgia mountains - prayers for all our neighbors in the gulf coast.)
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To: pepsionice

Most owners have more than one home and they evacuate to the closest one.


23 posted on 09/10/2005 10:42:41 PM PDT by CindyDawg
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To: kenth

Doesn't anyone understand that this woman who you all want to burn at the stake was doing what she felt was the wisest thing?

Where were the buses when the water started rising?

Fix the problem, not the blame!


24 posted on 09/10/2005 10:45:23 PM PDT by Old Professer (Some infinitives deserve to be split.)
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To: kenth

Just for you I'm changing my tagline.


25 posted on 09/10/2005 10:47:38 PM PDT by Old Professer (Fix the problem, not the blame!)
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To: Old Professer

As the person directly in charge of others lives she has an obligation to protect them with reasonable care. Under the law a reasonable person could have foreseen the grave possible outcome of not evacuating. In addition she was provided the opportunity to do so and refused it. She was negligent in the extreme.


26 posted on 09/10/2005 10:48:30 PM PDT by DB (©)
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To: Old Professer

Bottom line, choices have consequences.

It isn't as if the outcome wasn't foreseeable.


27 posted on 09/10/2005 10:50:34 PM PDT by DB (©)
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To: Old Professer

Well, since it was a mandatory evacuation, she seems legally culpable to have moved them. I'm sure we'll find out with the coming lawsuits!


28 posted on 09/10/2005 10:51:02 PM PDT by I_like_good_things_too
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To: Old Professer

Where were the buses when the water started rising?

Didn't you read the article? She turned them down. That's why they weren't there. I'm buying stock in you.


29 posted on 09/10/2005 11:00:46 PM PDT by jwh_Denver (If INSANITY was a company would you expect it to grow?)
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To: jwh_Denver

The offer of buses came before the storm hit; maybe we're reading different articles.


30 posted on 09/10/2005 11:16:00 PM PDT by Old Professer (Fix the problem, not the blame!)
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To: Old Professer

I'm with you, OP. The lady who made the decision to stay is dead too...she has already paid the price herself for her poor judgement.


31 posted on 09/10/2005 11:23:38 PM PDT by Born in a Rage
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Comment #32 Removed by Moderator

To: Mount Athos

If they blame FEMA for not charging in then it is the mayor's fault for not doing the same.


33 posted on 09/10/2005 11:25:47 PM PDT by Brimack34
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To: Danno

This owner merits being investigated and prosecuted. At the same time, the Mayor of New Orleans also merits an invetigation and prosecution for sending so many to the Superdome and Convention Center and abandoning them there, resulting in deaths also.

The Nurising home owner was offered buses and refused. Nagin had buses and didn't use them. I see little difference.


34 posted on 09/10/2005 11:41:51 PM PDT by DakotaRed
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To: Hildy
Agreed and it was indeed by all standards a violation of trust and a down right criminal act to endanger their lives in that manner. The generator was good for limited lighting only & nothing much else. There is the need for food, oxygen, air-conditioning, laundry, medications, and general care. Food without refrigeration would spoil quickly as well. I wasn't a wise idea. I am a retired Health Care Facility Maintenance Mechanic and realize the dangers and insanity of not getting the patients out early on.

The initial move to evacuate may in all probability cost a patient or two. Failing to move cost many much more. All nursing homes must put the safety and well being of the patients above all else. This was not a multi-story facility and in a Cat-4 hurricane it is very reasonable to assume heavy flooding will occur levy or no. Not to mention loss of roof potential etc. It was very irresponsible.

35 posted on 09/10/2005 11:50:40 PM PDT by cva66snipe
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To: Born in a Rage

The lady who made the decision to stay is dead too...

Are you sure? The article says that she is believed to have survived the storm.

36 posted on 09/10/2005 11:56:08 PM PDT by elli1
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To: Mount Athos
I would say that the people in charge of the home are "criminally negligent". There is no excuse (outside of operating expense and hassle) to turn down the offer of evacuating.
37 posted on 09/11/2005 12:07:30 AM PDT by weegee (The lesson from New Orleans? Smart Growth kills. You can't evacuate dense populations easily.)
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To: Danno
...nursing home admin is culpable here and disgusting...sounds like involuntary manslaughter.

Silly Danno, haven't you heard? It's all Bush's fault.

38 posted on 09/11/2005 12:14:45 AM PDT by Veggie Todd (Were those magic grits?)
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To: DakotaRed

The people in the nursing home were in "assisted living" and had little opportunity to leave on their own.

The citizens of New Orleans, people served by the mayor, may have been reliant on the mayor for help (his civic duty) but they had to get themselves to any sort of shelter (public or private) on their own.

I agree that there is little difference in the end, but they are different scenarios.

A closer analogy would be the parents who stayed at home and kept their kids in the attic with them. The mayor has means at his disposal but we don't live in a nannystate and require the approval of the mayor to do anything for self-preservation.


39 posted on 09/11/2005 12:15:20 AM PDT by weegee (The lesson from New Orleans? Smart Growth kills. You can't evacuate dense populations easily.)
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To: Danno

Jail, along with the governor of Louisiana and mayor of New Orleans.

Somehow there has to be an investigation and those found in neglect of their elected duties should stand trial.


40 posted on 09/11/2005 12:21:46 AM PDT by OKIEDOC (There's nothing like hearing someone say thank you for your help.)
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