Louisville Magazine

APR 2017

Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.

Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/804303

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 36 of 168

kosair.org derbymuseum.org 34 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 4.17 DIRTY BIT A "mass casualty" event. That's how Norton Audubon Hospital's emergency department preps for the first weekend in May. The weapons: malnourishing bank accounts, Jägerbombs, shot-gunned beers, sub- lethal doses of bourbon, the wicked ways of bad luck. ER nurse manager Renee Cecil says she starts planning for Derby a month beforehand by stockpiling fluids, clipboards, extra stretchers and recliners. Recliners? "We bring in a lot of recliners because a lot of the people are unfortunately just intoxicated," Cecil says. "They need fluids and can sit up during that." On Derby Day, the expanded ER staff has direct radio contact with ambulances in and around Churchill Downs, which is only about four miles from the hospital. "If it's raining, we see a lot of trips and falls," Cecil says. "If it's very hot, we see a lot of passing-out-type complaints, heart attacks." Last year, from Thurby through Derby, the ER treated about 400 patients, roughly 100 more than a typical weekend. Cecil loves to share one story from last year. A very drunk woman from out of town was admitted to the ER. She'd lost her ID, her phone and her fiancé. She had no idea where she was staying, no idea how to get ahold of anyone. So the father of another ER patient drove to Churchill to try to track down the woman's fiancé. Cecil isn't sure if the man's generosity ended in a reunion, but it goes to show there's plenty of kindness amid "mass casualty." — Anne Marshall

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Louisville Magazine - APR 2017