- The hospital lost power when Sandy hit and has been without full power since the superstorm hit.
- 150 members of the National Guard participated in the evacuation procedure
- Millions of gallons had flooded the hospital basement
- Soldiers and first responders had to carry children and patients to safety
The National Guard was called in to help evacuate hundreds of patients and staff from New York’s Bellevue Hospital on Wednesday as the flooded medical center in Manhattan struggled to operate as the power outage continued.
The public hospital lost power when Hurricane Sandy hit Monday and power was spotty as the facility relied on generators, and members of the Army National Guard climbed to the hospital roof with fuel all week to power the generators. .
A chaotic rescue scene unfolded Wednesday, as medical staff carried babies down stairs and soldiers carried patients out on stretchers while the strong smell of fuel filled the air and emergency lights provided flashing illumination for crews. rescue, according to local media reports.
Chaotic: Hundreds of patients and staff were evacuated from Bellevue Hospital as the facility struggled to operate during the blackout that continued to affect New York City.
Urgent transfer: The most critical patients were transferred to nearby medical centers and other patients were discharged
‘It’s like Katrina in there,’ said Bellevue nurse ABC News about the conditions.
One hundred and fifty members of the National Guard helped in rescue efforts on Wednesday to transfer the most critical patients to nearby medical centers, according to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Millions of gallons of water had flooded the basement of the hospital, located near the East River at 1st Avenue and 27th Street.
Always ready, always there: National Guard on hand to remove patients from flooded medical center in lower Manhattan
Bellevue is the second Manhattan hospital forced to evacuate patients after the superstorm. New York University Langone Medical Center had to move patients because the hospital’s backup generators failed when the building lost power as the storm hit the East Coast on Monday night.