Evacuation of Psychiatric Inpatients from Bellevue Hospital Post Hurricane Sandy

Four hospitals in New York City were evacuated in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan was one of those hospitals;  61 incarcerated psychiatric patients had to be evacuated from the 19th floor. Because the hospital was flooded and without power, those inpatients had to be moved without the help of elevators, electronic or phone communication, or even running water. As you will hear here from Elizabeth Ford, MD, the evacuation was an amazing experience of multiple systems, often at odds, pulling together in a crisis amidst some panic.

Dr Ford is Director of the Division of Forensic Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center. She is also Training Director, Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship at NYU School of Medicine/Bellevue Hospital Center.

Evacuation from Bellevue Hospital