When it Counted, Methodist Employees Came through Like Champions

When Operations Dispatcher Jesse Willhite reported for work the evening of June 8 at The Methodist Hospital, he was expecting to take routine maintenance calls. But when the floodwaters hit hours later, what he did was anything but routine - he became a hero.

"It wasn't raining when I drove to work," Willhite said, "but when the storm hit, things turned sour pretty quickly and I found myself helping to set up a makeshift command center in Dunn Tower 201."

Somewhere amidst the darkened hallways, passersby suddenly heard a cry for help.

As floodwaters rose on the basement levels, Demeterius Bradley of linen services was trapped in an elevator rapidly filling with water.

George Ross of security quickly joined in the rescue effort.

"The first thing we had to do was locate the keys to get the elevator door open," he said. " We got the doors open on the first floor of Fondren-Brown; luckily the car stopped before it got all the way down to the floor of the first basement level, or else the water might have been over that guy's head."

Willhite and Ross knew that the only way to rescue Bradley was to climb into the elevator shaft and pull him out through a door in the roof of the elevator car. The rescuers climbed on top of the elevator cab and ripped off the escape hatch. Floodwaters swirled at Bradley's chest and were rising quickly.

"I put my own fears aside because I knew I could not let that man perish down there," Willhite said. "It was a good thing he was kind of thin, because we might not have been able to get him out of there. But we grabbed him and pulled him to safety as fast as we could," Willhite said.

In the confusion of the moment, Ross and Willhite didn't stick around to exchange pleasantries with the rescued man. Once they determined he was OK, they went back to work.

When asked what it felt like to save a person's life, Willhite replied, "It feels good. I had to do it."

At Methodist, there are many more of these stories. Here are a just a few:

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An elevator that came up from the Fondren-Brown basement early Saturday morning carried an ominous warning.

"When the doors opened up, water flowed out," said Greg Srb, a respiratory therapist who works the third shift in the Medical Intensive Care Unit.

But that warning gave the MICU staff enough time to prepare for the possibility of losing power.

Srb and another respiratory therapist, Terry Cossey, as well as other MICU nurses and staff, were ready when the lights went out. Flashlights in hand, they continued working in the dark.

"The staff on that unit did a great job. They're all critical-care nurses, and they really pulled together and reacted quickly to a deteriorating situation," said Srb.

The nurses had high praise for the respiratory therapists, as well.

"Their quick work really helped our patients," said registered nurse Frank Soto.

Nicola Norem, also a registered nurse, added, "Greg was just brilliant."

All of the patients in the MICU were eventually moved to the Endovascular Center on Main 2, then later moved to the Scurlock Post Anesthesia Care Unit.

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Tom MacAdam-Somer, director of Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy, was part of a large group of volunteers who helped move 12 patients from the Skilled Nursing Facility on Jones Tower 11 the Monday after Tropical Storm Allison hit.

"It was a tremendous project and very difficult - many of these patients were incapacitated and three were in traction. Groups of people carried patients down 11 flights of stairs," he said.

Employees from PT/OT, Radiology, International Patient Services and System Marketing and Communications participated in the transfer. A nurse carrying each patient's medical chart and an electric fan accompanied patients to their new rooms; most were moved to Dunn Tower 7.

"We used just about every means possible - carrying patients while in their wheelchairs, on stretchers and back boards," said MacAdam-Somer. "People helped from all over the hospital. Even some Baylor folks were here helping move patients."

By the end of the week, the remaining patients at the hospital were concentrated in the Main, Scurlock and Smith Buildings.

Like many others who came in to work over the weekend, MacAdam-Somer had concerns back at home.

"I had water in my house, but the real, pressing need was here," he said.

McAdam-Somer praised the efforts of co-worker, Claire Sweatt, also of PT/OT, who cancelled vacation plans to come in and help.

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When the lights went out on Saturday morning, Reuben Escandon Jr. was sleeping in a waiting area. His mother, Esperanza Escandon, was a current Methodist patient awaiting a heart transplant.

"The alarms went off, then the lights went out," recalled Reuben, who is from El Paso. "My father (Reuben Escandon Sr.) and I talked to the nurses to see what could be done."

Patients were to be moved from the Cardiac Care Unit to patient rooms on Dunn Tower 10 West. Father and son lent a hand moving equipment and patients. Later in the day the two men located sandwiches, soft drinks, water and ice for the nursing staff.

As the week wore on they continued to carry up food and supplies to the 10th floor. "We were just lending a hand and trying to keep up the morale of the staff," said the younger Escandon.

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Krissy Birdsong, manager of the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit, battled floodwaters to get in early Saturday morning. The first thing she did was get on the phone and call other staff members to come in and relieve the staff on duty.

"The people who were going to come in on Saturday morning were going to have to be here awhile," she said, "so they needed to be fresh."

By 4 a.m., there was a fresh batch of workers ready to work a 12-hour, or longer, shift. "We just pitched in and worked together," said Birdsong.

"The staff really saved the day by being willing to work some long shifts. There were some agency nurses here. They went down the hall to sleep a few hours and they were back to go to work again."

Curtis McFarland, registered nurse, and Sharon Johnson and Cynthia Hudgins were cited by Birdsong.

"Everyone, really - they were here for the long haul and during the worst of it," she said.

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Normally, people like Jill Montgomery and Jim Heiser in Facilities Management wear a lot of hats. Lately, the one they've been wearing the most is a hard hat.

Montgomery has been coordinating the cleanup and salvage work on the lower basement levels, and in coming months she will work with Heiser and others in the restoration and rebuilding of affected hospital areas and departments.

Heiser has been overseeing the work of employees and contractors on demolition of some damaged areas.

"Everyone in Facilities Management has stepped up and really worked," Heiser said. "I can't say enough about our employees and our contractors. They're all busting their tails."

Tom Kyllo, vice president of Support Services, said there are several hundred people who deserve a pat on the back.

"It's been a huge effort," he added. "They've been a phenomenal team."

* * *

JoAnn Stearns, manager of Guest Services, came in to work over the weekend with her husband Bill in tow. He worked and sweated alongside employee volunteers, moving patients and delivering supplies to various floors.

Kathleen Patterson, of the Main PACU, also came to the hospital on Sunday with her husband. They brought a pickup truck full of electric fans, water, ice and paper plates. Dr. Richard Stasney went to a local sporting goods store and purchased 50 lanterns, and delivered food and other necessary items.

The West University Methodist Church Ladies' Auxiliary baked brownies and other food items for hospital employees. The brownies, it was said, were made from "a good old Methodist recipe."

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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