West Jefferson Medical Center

West Jefferson Medical Center
In Front of WJMC

The West Jefferson Medical Center (WJMC) is a 451-bed community hospital located in Marrero, Louisiana, United States. It is located just 15 minutes from downtown New Orleans in a region known as the Westbank. Established in 1956, West Jefferson Medical Center is situated near vast industrial and maritime corridors.[1]

Hurricane Katrina

During the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, WJMC and East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie served as the main trauma centers for New Orleans due to severe damage to the city's main trauma center, the now-defunct Charity Hospital, which was one of two constituent hospitals of the Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans. WJMC was chosen due to its proximity; the nearest Level I trauma center at that time was in Shreveport.[2]

Deepwater Horizon incident

WJMC treated four of the oil rig workers who were injured in the Deepwater Horizon Explosion on April 20, 2010. Two of the injured men were brought to the ER by ground around 3:20 a.m., and the other two were flown in by helicopter around 5:45 a.m. All four workers were treated and released by 11:15 on April 21, 2010.[3][4][5]

In May 2010, WJMC treated a total of 11 oil spill workers who were complaining of illnesses they attributed to cleaning up oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster.[6] Seven workers were hospitalized on May 26 after complaining of dizziness, severe headaches, shortness of breath, nausea and skin irritations while working on boats off the Louisiana coast. Two days later, 2 more workers were brought to the ER by helicopter, and the following day 2 oil spill workers walked into the ER complaining of similar symptoms.[7]

Nine of the 11 workers were admitted to the hospital overnight and, on average, stayed 2 to 3 days until their symptoms lessened.

WJMC Doctors believe the likely cause of the symptoms is exposure to some type of chemical irritant coupled with heat-related illnesses. The workers told doctors they believe the dispersants being sprayed to break up the oil made them sick.

On May 31, 2010, WJMC set up a 12-cot medical first-aid tent in Grand isle to help treat people working on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. The tent was set up on the Jefferson Parish Emergency Management compound. It was open daily from 12:30pm to 7:00pm, and was staffed by a nurse practitioner and the support of two EMT’s.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "West Jefferson Medical Center - Physicians, Doctors, Medical Services Hospital for New Orleans". Wjmc.org. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  2. ↑ "New Orleans Gets a Formal Level 1 Trauma Care Facility". EMS World Magazine. February 28, 2006.
  3. ↑ Archived March 8, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ "Eleven workers missing after La. oil rig explosion". Usatoday.Com. 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ Michael DeMocker / The Times-Picayune. "Gulf oil spill workers complaining of flulike symptoms". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  7. ↑ "Oil spill cleanup workers hospitalized". Fox10tv.com. 2010-05-29. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  8. ↑ Navarro, Mireya (2010-06-13). "Under a Withering Sun, Spill Cleanup Workers Must Break Frequently". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2012-11-23.

Coordinates: 29°53′30″N 90°05′41″W / 29.89172°N 90.09475°W / 29.89172; -90.09475

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