Doctors complete surgery despite hospital evacuation

As a fire burned nearby, the operating team stayed focused and put patient safety before its own.

By Susan Landers, amednews staff. Oct. 27, 2003.

Washington -- A gas main rupture just outside George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 7 resulted in a street fire that forced the evacuation of hundreds of patients, physicians and nurses.

But cardiothoracic surgeon Bryan M. Steinberg, MD, and others in one operating room stayed put. They were in the middle of a coronary bypass; their patient was hooked up to a heart-lung machine.

A few days after the fire, which caused only one injury, Dr. Steinberg talked about the scare.

Question: How did you get word of the events transpiring beyond the OR?

Answer: It started off as a low murmuring and it began building. Initially there was said to be a fire in the street. Then people started coming in and making comments that there was a car on fire. Then there was some sort of explosion, and people started reporting there were flames 40 feet in the air.

Finally, someone came in and said that the hospital was being evacuated.

Q: What did you do?

A: I said, "OK, I don't want to hear anything else about what is going on out there. I want everyone to be focused." But I was thinking: "Is this a terrorist thing? What kind of an explosion was it?" Everyone in Washington is a little on edge over these sorts of things. We are just a few blocks from the White House and the State Dept.

Q: What happened next?

A: I became concerned for the staff. So we tried to get the nonessential people out and at the same time continue the operation as quickly as possible. Those of us remaining were committed to caring for the patient. We said we don't want to know any more about what is going on outside. But that didn't mean we weren't aware of what was happening. In the back of your mind you are thinking about your family.

Several firemen were stationed around the operating room to make sure the environment was safe and there wasn't gas coming in.

The hospital made sure we had adequate blood, supplies and medications before evacuating everyone. We were then at a point where we needed another 20 or 30 minutes to get off the heart-lung machine and have the work on the heart completed. So we did that.

Q: How did the patient do?

A: He did extremely well. He was very appreciative.