Ida stories: A firsthand account from the hospital floor

Over the coming days, Tulane University School of Medicine will be sharing stories about Hurricane Ida and the storm’s aftermath. To begin, we have a firsthand account from fourth-year neurology resident Dr. Akm Muktadir.

The hurricane attacked on Sunday. 

It was the Friday night. I was on my night shift from 7pm to 7am at UMC. Dr. Sarah Perez was the attending. 

That night, I was still debating if I should evacuate with my family the next day or not. When I told that to Dr. Perez, she told me that we will do a quick round in the morning so that I can leave the hospital around 7 in the morning. 

Overnight the hurricane was getting stronger, and I was getting calls from my family and friends about when I am planning to leave. Some of them already left town. 

Around 11pm that night I got a call from Dr. Perez, and she asked me to get ready by 4am. She came to hospital at 4 in the morning and took over my shift so that I could leave town early and avoid the traffic.   

I never thought that an attending would come during that time of night and take all my responsibilities so that I could take my family and kids to a safer place. It made me so emotional, and I will never forget this.