Alert Orange

2007

1967


As we all know, the 35W bridge over the Mississippi collapsed Wednesday. The bridge that is so close to the U of MN campus; 7 or 8 years ago I travelled that stretch of road all the time. HCMC issued an "alert orange," which means that an outside disaster has occurred and the hospital goes into a different mode of triaging patients and calling staff in to help. I contacted the charge nurse on our floor to see if she needed me to come in, but she said it was under control. So far, the only close-call that I've heard of is my cousin crossing that bridge 10 minutes before it collapsed! Thank God he wasn't delayed by just 10 minutes! Thank God!
This catastrophe is unbelievable. It feels so personal when it happens to "our people," Minnesotans, friends, family, neighbors, co-workers...... I don't know what else to say, except that it's hard to believe! I hope we are all safe!