WEEK NOW SINCE HURRICANE MARIA HIT PUERTO RICO AND WE CONTINUE
TO GET DRAMATIC FOOTAGE OF HOW BAD CONDITIONS ARE.
BUT NOW THAT IT IS MORE THAN THREE WEEKS OUT FROM WHEN THAT
STORM HIT, THE FACT THAT CONDITIONS ARE STILL SO
DIFFICULT IS NO LONGER JUST A MANIFESTATION OF HOW BIG AND
POWERFUL THE STORM WAS, IT'S HOW INSUFFICIENT THE RESPONSE HAS
BEEN. WE GOT A VERY ACUTE, SPECIFIC
PIECE OF NEWS ABOUT THE RELIEF EFFORT IN PUERTO RICO TODAY.
SPECIFICALLY ABOUT WHAT ARE CALLED DISASTER MEDICAL
ASSISTANCE TEAMS, THE TEAMS OF DOCTORS AND NURSES AND
PARAMEDICS WHO DEPLOY DURING NATURAL DISASTERS.
THIS IS A GREAT RESOURCE THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS IN
TERMS OF DISASTER RESPONSE. TODAY WE LEARNED THAT THE SENIOR
MEDICAL OFFICER ON ONE OF THE FEDERAL DMAT TEAMS IN PUERTO
RICO, A DOCTOR WHO HAS BEEN ON HUMANITARIAN MISSIONS IN TEN
COUNTRIES, IN HAITI, IN JAPAN AFTER FUKUSHIMA, SHE HAS JUST
QUIT HER DISASTER RESPONSE TEAM IN PUERTO RICO BECAUSE SHE SAYS
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN PUERTO RICO IS A RESPONSE THAT'S BEING RUN
IN A WAY SHE HAS NEVER SEEN IN HER 20 YEARS OF FEDERAL DISASTER
RESPONSE EXPERIENCE. TODAY THAT DOCTOR SENT US THESE
IMAGES, WHICH SHE SAYS SHOW A SPA DAY THAT WAS ORGANIZED BY
FEDERAL MEDICAL STAFF, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MEDICAL
STAFF, A SPA DAY THEY ORGANIZED FOR THEMSELVES IN THE MIDDLE OF
THE DISASTER. THIS DOCTOR TELLS US THAT THEY
USED THE TRIAGE TENTS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE FOR MEDICAL CARE
AND INSTEAD BROUGHT IN LOCAL PUERTO RICAN RESIDENTS TO GIVE
THE MEDICAL WORKERS CUT RATE MANICURES AND PEDICURES WHILE
THESE MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS WERE BEING PAID FOR THEIR WORK AS
PART OF THE DISASTER RELIEF BUT INSTEAD THEY WERE GETTING SPA
TREATMENTS. THE SENIOR MEDICAL OFFICER
REPORT TO HER REPORTING OFFICERS AT THE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
AND TOLD THEM, "I FIND THIS GROSS MISUSE OF TAXPAYER FUNDS
AND ABUSE OF OUR PRIVILEGED POSITIONS PERSONALLY ABHORRENT."
SHE POINTED TO THE QUOTE "OPTICS OF NDMS MEDICAL PERSONNEL
RESPONSIBLE FOR SEEING INJURED AND ILL PUERTO RICANS WHO HAVE
NO HOMES, FOOD OR SUPPLIES HAVING A SPA DAY ON TAXPAYER
MONEY." SHE SAID, "I CAN NO LONGER SERVE
WITH HONOR ON THIS TEAM" AND THEN SHE QUIT AFTER MORE THAN 20
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE DOING THIS WORK.
AND HER OBJECTIONS WERE NOT JUST THE WAY THAT THIS IS THE FEDERAL
RESPONSE IS SPENDING TAXPAYER MONEY IN PUERTO RICO.
THE DOCTOR SAID THAT THESE WERE STERILE ENVIRONMENTS.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THE MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS THERE WERE WEARING
FLIP-FLOPS BECAUSE THEY WERE DRYING THEIR PEDICURES.
WE REACHED OUT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
ABOUT THIS TODAY AND THEY TOLD US, "THE NATIONAL DISASTER
MEDICAL CENTER HAS BEEN MADE AWARE OF THE SITUATION THIS
DOCTOR HAS RAISED. WE HAVE INITIATED AN INTERNAL
INQUIRY REGARDING THIS MATTER AND WILL TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION
AS NECESSARY." LAST NIGHT WE REPORTED ON THIS
MADDENING SITUATION IN WHICH PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO DIE,
AMERICANS STARTING TO DIE BECAUSE OF TREATABLE BACTERIAL
INFECTIONS, INFECTIONS THEY ARE GETTING BECAUSE THEY STILL THREE
WEEKS ON HAVE NO ACCESS TO DRINKING WATER SO THEY'VE BEEN
DRINKING FOR WEEKS OUT OF CREEKS AND STREAMS.
PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO DIE FROM WATER-BORNE BACTERIAL
INFECTIONS, TREATABLE INFECTIONS WHILE APPARENTLY SPA DAY BUT
ALSO WHILE THE "COMFORT" HOSPITAL SHIP IS DOCKED IN
PUERTO RICO. IT HAS HUNDREDS OF BEDS.
800 HIGHLY TRAINED MEDICAL PERSONNEL, STATE-OF-THE-ART
HOSPITAL FACILITIES. AS OF THIS WEEK, THE "COMFORT"
WAS TREATING SEVEN PATIENTS AND ON TUESDAY UP TO EIGHT.
THEY HAVE HUNDREDS OF BED, 800 MEDICAL STAFF.
THEY WERE TREATING EIGHT PEOPLE ON TUESDAY WHILE PEOPLE WERE
DYING FROM TREATABLE BACTERIAL INFECTIONS AT THE HOSPITALS ON
THE ISLAND WHERE THE "COMFORT" IS DOCKED, BACTERIAL INFECTIONS
THAT THEY SHOULD NOT BE GETTING IN THE FIRST PLACE.
ONE THING THAT THE "COMFORT" CAN DO IS MANUFACTURE DRINKING
WATER. BUT AMERICANS ARE DYING WHILE
THIS FLOATING MIRACLE OF A HOSPITAL SHIP IS RIGHT THERE,
DOCKED IN PUERTO RICO. WHAT GOOD IS A FLUTING MIRACLE
OF A SHIP IF THEY ARE NOT GETTING ANYBODY ON BOARD TO
TREAT THEM. THIS IS AN ORGANIZATIONAL
FAILURE, NOT THE STORM WAS TOO BIG AND THE RESOURCES ARE THERE,
THE TRAINED STAFF ARE THERE AND THIS IS JUST ORGANIZING IT.
THIS IS LEADING THE EFFORT. THIS IS JUST TRYING TO CONNECT
WHAT IS AVAILABLE WITH WHAT IS NEEDED.
THIS STORM IS NO LONGER KILLING AMERICANS.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE TO THIS STORM IS NOW
KILLING