HCHD Hurricane Policy - RANT

[ndsimm]

Ok, first of all, I doubt that Dean will get anywhere close to Houston and I hope for as little damage as possible for those that may be in the path....
My wife is a Pharmacist for Harris County and the power that be have decreed, that this year, should a hurricane hit, people on a certain list in certain groups, will have to either:
group 1 - be there 12 hours before the storm hits
group 2 - actually ride out the storm in the Medical Center
group 3 - leave whatever safe place you happen to be in and get to the medical center

now I realize that medical staff are important, I mean she works in a hospital......so that is not my complaint...my problem is that if they cannot make it in for whatever reason they are fired!
the second part of my problem is I would like to know where the people in the Ivory tower will be while my wife has to leave her family???

[Adcox]

I doubt an employer can fire you for following the "governments" order to evacuate. The people in the Ivory towers job is to keep the machine going. Rest assured they will be safe and secure with their families far away from storms fury. In other words, it's a big bluff. I for one learned my lesson during Hurricane Rita. I'm outta here when Dr. Neil Frank says it's time!

[mcphotography]

unfortunately some employers don't care about what the government has to say....i used to work at one and the way it ignored the governments requests during Rita and they way it handled employees who tried to keep their familes safe is one of the many reasons i quit...hopefully Dean will stay far far away and if not, gas up and boggie out of town if you can, and if not, my prayers are with you for safety

[LoungeLizard]

You missed the point - she works for the government. I'm not an expert, but I suspect they are classifying her as an "emergency responder" and then it is part of your job descritption to serve. As with any other job, not adhearing to your job description and managements requests will subject you to insubordination. Penalties for this vary across employers, but it is usually strong disciplinary action up to dismissal.

[mcphotography]

i was classified (by the company) as an essential employee during rita also...did not work for the government and the job was not an essential position, especially not during an emergency but the company deemed it so (won't bad mouth the company but if i put up what the job was you'd see why i say it was not essential)...i totally understood nathan's point but also as a point of rant, the greatest assest to a company is it's employees and they are often put at the greatest risk - often needless risk - while those who are in "key" positions are the first to disappear

[Adcox]

The bottom line is "you have to take care of Number 1" if you don't no one else will. This would be a great time to use a little sick time. That's what I'll be doing.

[Huck]

I work for a large city in Okla as a 9-1-1 dispatcher. We are considered "essential" employees. So when the ice and snow hits and everything is closed, we are open and are required to come in. Thats just the ways of the job and they explain it to ya when you get hired.

Not sure what happens if you dont make it in or call in. Havent tested that water just yet..

[txphotog]

Most forecast models still showing Mexico/ Brownsville. I take those odds in Vegas. Bottom line- Have a plan but dont stress out about it. People didnt evacuate for years. Sure you may have been without power for a few days but stock up on supplies and youll survive. The media hype drives fear into us all. I left for Rita and came back and sure Beaumont looked bad but everything was still there.

[Howard Barlow]

Originally Posted by Adcox

I doubt an employer can fire you for following the "governments" order to evacuate.

Wrong. Our sheriff fired quite a few deputies and dispatchers for leaving during Rita.

[BlueStar-57]

Nathan I think if you feel this way then your wife is in the wrong profession, or needs to not work in a hospital but in a private pharmacy or you need to start the ball rolling to get laws changed to forced evacuation of the coastline of everybody including police during hurricanes or better still no homes can be built within 200 miles (or whatever the safety zone is) of a coastline so no evacuations are needed in the first place. Like it or not every time this happens it causes prices to rise-gas, home and car insurance, etc.

During disasters pharmacist are needed on hand at their stations since many of the type medications needed during those times are kept under strict lock and key and regulated. If people don’t show up to do their jobs then it will cost other peoples lives that could have been saved. Some of those people will be the ones who refused to leave or couldn’t afford to, while others will be those who’s job descriptions require them to stay.

As a child I learned first hand at what doing your duty and job description meant. We where in Germany when the wall closed. All the vehicles on base fired up and Dad rushed home long enough to put a foot locker into the car for Mom to put supply’s in and give her the instructions that if anything went down to drive to the Air Force base. If anyone tried to block the road way to just run them over and no matter what not to stop for anything. They did leave a few cooks on base with weapons to try to protect all the women and children. Needless to say I was worried for my Dad and all of us, and needless to say he darn well would have preferred to stay and see his family stayed safe, but that was not his job description. Luckily with all the forces facing each other no one fired a shot and the wall went up. Even after having gone through that he still served out 21 years in the military. But when we had to option of going with him to Korea for that 3 year term, he elected to make us stay in the US even when we were willing to go with him. This Nation was not based on just brave men and women in the military, many in the private sector had risked their lives in order to save others from all walks of life.

I for one do not agree that anyone should have to risk their lives from an avoidable disaster (hurricane, volcano, etc.), but I also believe that a safety zone should be mounted around such locations. Ivory towers exist in all sectors and should all be demolished. If pitted in your position and I wanted to keep my job I would ride it out at the Medical Center no matter what group I was in (stupid to try to drive in after or during it) and have my loved ones all relocated to a safe place so I wouldn’t have to worry about them while doing my job. Otherwise I would quit the hospital (after this round due to the way I am) and go to work in the Wally World pharmacy :).

Hope everyone stays safe during it and it hits where it can do the least amount of damage to all walks of life.

[Cope]

My daughter is an ER RN at Hermann in the Medical Center. She spent 48 hours with no sleep during Rita. it's part of the job. She didn't enjoy it, but she knew what to expect when she took the job.

[wsteed]

My wife is employed by a hospital. During Rita, the employer had essential employees (like her) come in, clock in, and bring their family. She worked 12 hr shifts but stayed on the clock. This year, they did as above. Group A, B and C. No families.....

[Steelsun]

There was a new state mandated policy for evacuations that was implemented for Houston after Rita:

1) All residents originally from California or who attended UT are to get on I-10 or 290 and head West towards San Antonio or Austin.
2) All Yankees and Oklahomans get on 45 or 59 and head north. Do not stop until you cross over the Texas border. No Reentry.
3) All Floridians, Louisianans, and Katrina Evacuees - Get on I-10 and head East. Do not stop until you cross over the Texas border. No Reentry.
4) All Rap Music Lovers: Take 45 South and visit beautiful Galveston.
5) Aggies take 610.

[Breezy]

In Charleston DH was essential personel on base. Every one was told to evacuate. But I was at work :( and saw the back up. It took be 2 hours to go a 20 min distance no way in heck was I going on the road with 3 kids by myself. So we rode it out in base housing. And he worked like 5 days straight before coming home. Here he is considered essential personel BUT he will not be here if this one comes as he is needed to setup all the stuff at Lackland. And will be one of the first to come back.
Does it suck at times yeah but heck we have learned to deal. We have lived trough hurricanes in NC, SC, VA, a couple very minor ones in CA and now here. So it really doesn't bother us as much as some I guess.

Hope everyone stays safe and Nathan I hope your wife is safe at the hospital.

[Breezy]

Originally Posted by Steelsun

There was a new state mandated policy for evacuations that was implemented for Houston after Rita:

1) All residents originally from California or who attended UT are to get on I-10 or 290 and head West towards San Antonio or Austin.
2) All Yankees and Oklahomans get on 45 or 59 and head north. Do not stop until you cross over the Texas border. No Reentry.
3) All Floridians, Louisianans, and Katrina Evacuees - Get on I-10 and head East. Do not stop until you cross over the Texas border. No Reentry.
4) All Rap Music Lovers: Take 45 South and visit beautiful Galveston.
5) Aggies take 610.

hahaha