A dentists diary of the Iowa floods
Cedar Rapids, Iowa鈥擳here is no blueprint to follow, no account of how we should do things, when and why, Dr. Christopher Tyler says in an e-diary of a flood-ravaged dental practice. “Hopefully, this may help the next individual/practice with a similar unfortunate experience with natural disaster.”
Dr. Tyler’s flood diary flows backward from the anticipation of recovery to the reality of “devastation” in the nature of a running e-mail communication with the ADA News updated as swollen waters of the Cedar River rose and receded in town. His account, overflowing with gratitude to the dental community, is excerpted and edited here.
June 11鈥擨 was between patients at 9 a.m. when they told us to begin sandbagging. By 11:15 my staff had acquired 500 sandbags with ties and 2 tons of sand to fill them. The efficiency was amazing as the only direction I was able to give them was get whatever you can. Another employee was able to remove our toilets and cap the lines on these and our shower. She amazed us, and I feel this limited the extent of our destruction. We were done bagging and securing our office around 3. An employee cancelled our patients.
June 13鈥擨 was at the office at 5 a.m. with the waters a block away. By 10:30 the water blocked all entrances to our office and the parking garage save one. I had to park three blocks away and run to the office. We had a crew of about a dozen people grab as much as we could and move it to safe levels inside or outside the office building. A dental supply owner came and unhooked all our dental chairs and we got them out of harm’s way. As the waters rose, I returned for the third time, wading through ankle deep water to get to our office to check out the devastation, and we took pictures of the flood.
June 14鈥擥ranted access to the building, we had 16 people, storage bins, dollies and work clothes along with 2-3 inches of standing water and a slick layer of mud and filth from floor to high water mark, around 3.5 feet. Most of our charts were stored high enough and remained dry. We were ready to tackle the office when we got word from authorities that air quality levels were poor and unsafe along with gas leaks in the downtown area. Everything we had removed from the building was still in the open although dry and out of danger from the water but not secured. We went home and cleaned thoroughly. I instructed our staff to get tetanus boosters as health officials recommended that even if current (with vaccination) a booster was a good idea due to the sewage and toxicity and our exposure.
June 15鈥擜ccess to businesses today was limited in the number of people we could take in, and we had to have a firefighter and National Guard escort for safety reasons. Once in, we had 15 minutes to get what we needed and leave, no exceptions. And since our office is on the first floor we were not allowed to go there because of health hazard. We spent the time securing what we had left in the open.
June 16鈥擜n orthodontist in town has a satellite clinic in a neighboring community and graciously offered us the space exclusively until we renovate/rebuild our office. This gift was extraordinary. We met as an office and briefed everyone on our status, pledged our help to our two office staff members who had homes affected by the flooding and made a tentative plan for the week. I also continued the process of making sure insurance protocol was followed. We do have flood insurance and the outlook for the practice is favorable.
By June 17 Dr. Tyler found donated space in a colleague’s office for several emergency patients. The downtown area was no longer under a blockade. ServiceMaster began sorting through trash and papers on the 19th, with tear out/destruction beginning the 20th. By the end of June 22 the carpeting, flooring, drywall and cabinetry was out and the drying/cleaning process was to begin in the likelihood we will begin ‘normal’ schedules for hygiene patients on the 24th.
The ADA Foundation approved a $2,500 disaster assistance grant for Dr. Tyler, which will be matched by the Iowa Dental Association relief fund. “I’ve had some amazing help from the ADA and everyone involved with the process of obtaining my disaster relief grant,” he said.
Dr. Tyler credited Iowa Dental Association president Dr. Heather Heddens, district trustee Dr. Douglas Horton “for emergency office space” and the IDA staff. “The dental community could not be more accommodating and it has overwhelmed me the support we have received from not only the dentists but their staff, our friends and our patients.”
Recovery is a process in search of answers and “endless hours on the phone and online searching for protocol to deal with what to clean, what to throw away, necessary insurance steps, documentation of every move and of plans. I am learning by doing and owe my office staff kudos for being patient with me and the situation,” Dr. Tyler said.