Virginia FP Delivers Medical Supplies, Expertise to Katrina Victims

When FP Dima Ali, M.D., drove to the aid of Hurricane Katrina victims on Sept. 2, angels followed. Sometimes they were invisible, such as when -- for some unknown reason -- the car remained upright, despite the fact that the trailer she was pulling was careening from side to side on an axle that broke at highway speeds between the North Carolina cities of Raleigh and Durham.

Other times they were face-to-face with her, such as when police in Mississippi allowed her to exceed the ration limit for gasoline by just enough to get Ali, who lives in Reston, Va., to Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center’s temporary emergency clinic in Baton Rouge, La.

For Hurricane Katrina victims, Ali was the angel. The deliverer of children's medical supplies, formula, rehydration liquids and clothing, Ali was one of hundreds of family physicians who took their medical expertise and compassion to those most in need in the early days after Hurricane Katrina hammered areas of the Gulf Coast.

With medical license in hand, Ali headed for Mississippi with supplies shortly after Debbie Marinucci, a nurse who works with Ali, confided that she couldn’t find her brother in Katrina’s aftermath.

“I said, ‘Why don’t we just go?’” said Ali. They did. Ali, Marinucci and her fellow nurse Jan Setnor packed a trailer from floor to ceiling with medical supplies and headed south. They made good time until they neared Raleigh. There, the trailer’s axle split; the trailer began swerving wildly from side to side.

“It could have flipped the car,” recalled Ali. “The state trooper said he didn’t know how we survived.”

But they did. And they went on to repack two rental vans -- and then some -- with supplies.

“I made a 3 a.m. run to two Wal-Marts in North Carolina,” said Ali. “I bought everything they had off the shelf -- formula, diapers, all the Pedialyte, even shoes.”

The trio traveled together until they hit Mississippi. Ali's colleagues stayed there, where Marinucci found her brother and delivered supplies to family members. Ali continued to Lady of the Lake's emergency clinic.

“Right when we came into Mississippi, you could begin to see the devastation,” said Ali. “It was like a war zone. I needed to stop for gasoline and had to wait in line for a couple of hours. At one point, I had to open the van, and a guy who saw what I had went nuts. Luckily, there were police everywhere.”

Gasoline was being rationed, and with gas prices at just more than $3 a gallon, police were enforcing the $20 limit.

“I had to bargain with the officer to get $5 more than the limit,” said Ali. “I showed him what I was carrying and told him where I was going. I got my $5 extra.”

The next few hours sped by at a rapid-fire pace: Arrive at a make-shift hospital at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Unload the van. Report to command center. Show Virginia medical license. Complete reciprocity paperwork. Finally, enter the make-shift hospital and get to work.

Ali managed patients with diabetic ketoacidosis from days without insulin. She treated those with lacerations infected by contaminated flood waters. And she cared for patients with psychological trauma --a lot of them.

“They were bringing in patients by the busloads from New Orleans,” said Ali. But the clinic was prepared; it even had an area to treat patients with dysentery symptoms and a small intensive care unit.

“It was really good to see the effort of everyone who came together from all over,” said Ali. “My philosophy in life is that you come into the world with nothing and you leave the world with nothing. What matters is what you do while you’re here. It was so good to see that being played out there.”