In this coastal community that is regarded as ground zero in Hurricane Katrina’s destruction, injuries being treated by a mobile hospital have taken a curious turn.
Instead of residents being treated for broken arms or running out of prescriptions, survivors are hurting themselves while they sort through the wreckage that was once their homes.
“Now we’re in the phase where people are getting injured cleaning debris,” said Alan Taylor, 52, a spokesman for Carolinas Medical Center’s mobile hospital. “It’s very common” in the aftermath of a hurricane, he said.
One man needed stitches in his fingers after trying to pick up a freezer. A woman tripped on debris and thought she broke her ankle (it was diagnosed as a sprain).
Others are getting injured using chain saws for the first time. Some are straining backs lifting heavy objects. A few have stepped on the ubiquitous nails, thrown throughout the streets and sidewalks.
A steady stream of people–about 200 a day, peaking at almost 300 on Thursday–have flocked to an unlikely locale for a hospital: the parking lot along U.S. Highway 90 in front of a blown-out Big Kmart, Radio Shack and Blockbuster.
The mobile hospital is operated by Carolinas Medical Center and created under a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
It consists mainly of two 53-foot tractor trailers and a large white tent that could hold up to 100 patients, including the eight-bed hospital that also features an operating room, Taylor said.
The mobile hospital is expected to continue until at least early October, until the nearby Hancock Medical Center in Bay St. Louis reopens, officials said.
