ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Sarasota Memorial Health Care System said there's a "surge" of patients seeking emergency care at its hospital in Venice, as some south Florida hospitals have shut down or limited operations due to Hurricane Ian damage.
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Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice is home to a 28-bed emergency care center.
It's not enough.
Because of that, the government sent in what's called a DMAT, a disaster medical assistance team made up of 37 people — doctors, nurses, physician assistances, paramedics and pharmacists.
A Sarasota Memorial Health Care System spokesperson told ABC Action News the team set up a 30-bed tent facility at SMH-Venice on Sunday and is working with the SMH team to triage and treat patients as they come in.
The disaster medical assistance team will be in Venice to provide support to Sarasota Memorial Hospital for at least a week.
Further north, Bayfront Health is accepting patients transferred from Lee Memorial.
“This is the first time that I’ve seen mobilization like this, this large scale of an evacuation that’s coming out of Fort Myers," Chief Nursing Officer Lorraine Parker at Bayfront Health in St. Petersburg told ABC Action News. “When we were here, and we saw the helicopter land, and we saw that first patient come out, I think it was a real emotional moment to think what they had been through and to know that we had a part in their story.”
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Those stories include Ralph "Bud" Stoddard, one of four ICU patients from Lee Memorial so far.
“The three guys from the med flight were first class," Stoddard said, getting emotional.
When asked what was going through his mind, he told ABC Action News, "It was scary. I almost died."
The day before Hurricane Ian hit, Stoddard said he found out he needed surgery. His doctor told him they could not wait until after the hurricane.
Parker said nurses did not hesitate when they learned Lee Memorial Hospital needed help.
"We immediately stepped up and said give us the ICU patients, give us the sickest patients," she said. “I was just so thankful that we were able to help them because this could have been us.”
As Bayfront Health steps up, Parker said she couldn't help but think about what's down the road in the coming weeks.
"Many of them are critically ill and won’t remember even any of this. But they may wake up and not have a home. They may wake up and not have anywhere to go. So I think we’re going to have some conversations going forward about — how does our community support that? Do they go to a long-term care facility or place until they have somewhere to go? Because these are very sick patients. So I think there’s more to this story as this evolves over the next few weeks," Parker told ABC Action News.
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Stoddard told ABC Action News he's grateful his home didn't suffer much damage. But even more than that, he's happy to be alive.
“I don’t think most of us appreciate all of these people. On a day-to-day basis. And you don’t realize what they do and how important they are," Stoddard said of the nurses and doctors. “I’m happy to be here."
