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KPRC TV channel to Houston's 24 hour news channel Now, Channel two news at five with bill by esa Jann Carson Roland galvan Spencer tillman and the Channel Two news team. All of this violence is having a direct impact on Ben Taub hospital where the emergency teams

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are stretched to the limit. It's been a very bad week. The weekend could be even worse. Channel Two's Ron Reagan is live at Ben Top with the latest Ron Jan. There has been a flurry of activity here in just the last half hour and hospital officials

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say they have good reason to be concerned just in the last 25 minutes. This was one of the gunshot victims that came in. That's a 17 year old who was shot in the leg and a few minutes later another gunshot victim was brought in this time

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a very critical head wound. The hospital is already very, very overcrowded. For example, this is the holding area where patients sometimes have to wait 72 hours for a hospital bed. Right now there are 50 patients in this room designed for 26 at surgical intensive care. There

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are only 4 to 6 open beds at this hour, critical wound intensive care, neurological intensive care, neonatal intensive care. All full dr Kenneth maddox is very concerned. And as you see now, there's really no place for the ambulances to park and it's still afternoon on on

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friday. This is january. This is the kind of activity we usually see in july, it's um, I think it's, it's a message to the city. Uh, this is a problem. We must solve either by prevention or by resources to take care of the situation or by

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diversion. And dr Maddox says a county this size should have some 1200 hospital beds. There are only about 768 beds between Ben Taub and LBJ hospital. And that is why there is a very big problem here. They are very concerned going into the weekend. Ron is

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the hospital close to a drive by situation, no gym. They are not close to that. They, they believe that they can get through that they can deal with this. They have seen it much worse here, but they still are very concerned, especially when you saw some

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of the video we just looked at, this is very ominous sign when this kind of thing starts so early on a friday afternoon. We've got the whole weekend to go. You're right, okay, we'll keep monitoring the situation. Thank you very much. Ron from K H O

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U T V. Houston, the spirit of texas. This is 11 users with sylvan Rodriguez. Clare Dr Neil frank with weather and give Nielsen on sports 11 news at six. We've already told you tonight about quite a bit of violence. Well, early indications this year point to

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a very busy year at the trauma center at Ben Taub Hospital tonight. Hospital administrators are sending out early warnings that overcrowding at the Harris County's only trauma center could become intolerable at any time Bruce Helford reports when it's a matter of life and death, they take

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you to Ben TOB shootings, knifings, car crashes, whatever the cause, the victims have been rolling into the trauma center this month like it was the middle of a long hot summer. It's now happening in january and february and that's scary. So if it's this bad now,

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what's it gonna be like in the summer? That's what we don't want to think about right now. Right alongside trauma victims are the sick who need immediate hospitalization. Put it all together says that she Of staff and this month, Ben top has come dangerously close to

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turning people away. We should have been on diversion 12 to 15 times this month already by any other hospitals criteria. We don't want to go on diversion. We want to go on diversion unless it becomes very unsafe. Putting the hospital on drive by status would affect

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more than just poor people without medical insurance. We have lawyers who were hurt at during a robbery. We had two employees of a major airlines company who were involved in a car wreck. Ben TOB is changing, it is no longer an indigent care hospital. It is

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a community resource. So the overcrowding affects the entire community maddox claims he's doing everything possible to hold down costs. So he doesn't have to cut back either trauma or emergency care services, but he says he can't do much about the causes that send people to his

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door, one out of every 10 drivers at any given time is drunk legally drunk. That's the good news At any given time in this city. Every other occupant of the cars that you see have access to a firearm for those and a multitude of other reasons.

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Ben Hobbs emergency center is virtually guaranteed to run into trouble as summer approaches Bruce Halford 11 News any little bit that I could do to help fight against drugs I was willing to do. We're gonna make a difference. The Emmy award

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winning city under siege. The only daily broadcast in texas dedicated to helping our community in the war against drugs and crime down with dope up with hope. Ben Taub. Hospital officials say today's violent street battles have their emergency room running at capacity. And chief surgeon Kenneth

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Maddox says the frightening scene has become almost commonplace for his interns. He says it's caused by a number of things, including the bad economy and easy to get. Handguns were not able to take care of the individuals who regularly need our service in the hospital district

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because we've become a community hospital for the entire city loaded at the emergency room this afternoon. A heart attack victim with no insurance and a young man caught in the crossfire of a gang related gun battle from K. H. O. U. T. V. Houston. The spirit

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of texas, this is 11 news with steve smith Marlene McClinton dr Neil frank with weather and give Nielsen on sports 11 news at 10. During the last 15 minutes we've had over 15 ambulances come and go right now and the new ambulance cannot even come in

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and it's early in the afternoon on a friday during the month of january ambulances lining up tonight outside Ben Top emergency room. Normally january and february are slow months, but so far this year it's been nonstop and hospital officials are afraid it's going to get worse.

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Good evening Steve Smith is off tonight. Sylvan Rodriguez joins us. first month of 1992 has been unusually bloody in Houston. We are already 15 homicides ahead of the same time last year. Just in the last six hours, there have been at least six shootings and tonight

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the city's only full time trauma center is jammed with patients. Seven news reporter, Terrance Jackson joins us live from Ben Top with more Terrence Silva to Marlene when you count up all the shootings, the traffic accidents, people in Houston with colds and the flu. You realize

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why Ben Top is so swamped these days. This evening we've got a firsthand look at why the chief administrator here says the emergency room is almost unmanageable around 4 30 this afternoon, ambulances began stacking up at Ben Taub hospital, a 23 year old is shot in

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the head, A 17 year old with multiple gunshot wounds. Then a woman rolls in with a broken leg. So many ambulances, some had to park on the street. All of this activity in the middle of winter, not the hot summer months. When violence normally peaks, victims

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of violent crime, who often have no insurance, are placing Ben Taub's regular patients on the back burner. We have 1000 patients on the waiting list for needed surgery. So it is that cost so not only is it cost in dollars to care for the people who

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come in the ambulances, but its cost. In terms of our regular mission. He's on unison. Has he gotten the first dose of that inside the emergency room holding area? Even more evidence of a hospital bursting at the seams. Some pay patients have waited all day for

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a room upstairs that's already occupied. Were real concerned because we already have over 50 patients in this holding area. Are surgery area is hole is full. Right now trauma nurse Carole Carrington has only five minutes to prepare this shock room for an incoming gunshot victim. He

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arrives at 7 35 with dangerously low blood pressure. The bullet entered the victim's buttocks, X rays. I went through his headphone And both lodged right on his skin on the front of the patient is stabilized within 10 minutes and heads to surgery. Now nurse Barrington readies

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the shock room for the next trauma case on an expected busy Friday night. You find yourself sometimes getting angry at these people because a lot of times it seems like they're bringing on themselves, they're involved in things they shouldn't be in places, they shouldn't be. That's

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not us to judge. They come in here and they're hurt. So we have to try to take care of them as best as we can. This increase in violent crime is also costing taxpayers a bundle minor gunshot wound cost an average of $6000 to repair the

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price tag for a bullet in the head can top 200,000 were told tonight by officials here at the hospital that 90% of the people coming through the emergency room here at Ben tom do not have insurance. Well, Terence the problem may be getting worse, but it's

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certainly not a new problem to the administrators. Have any suggestions as to how to solve this. Well, I think the suggestions are similar to what we've already heard money. The chief administrator here would like to see a system of six trauma centers opening up here in

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Houston, but obviously that would take millions of dollars and that may be money that taxpayers here are not willing to spend. Karen Jackson, thank you for that report. You're watching Channel 13 KTRK Tv Houston number one in texas. Eyewitness news with Dave ward marvin similares action

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13 bob Allen has sports and Ed Brandon's weather now channel 13. Eyewitness news tonight murders in Houston are on the rise in the Is demanding more protection. But as Alan Hamburger tells us tonight the bloodletting on our city streets is taxing the police force as well

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as the healthcare workers staffing our hospitals. It's just a little past 6:00 on this Friday night in the holding area of Ben Taub Hospital, 52 people are being cared for in a place designed to handle half that amount. There are 511 beds in this hospital. All

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are full. I'm told that before the night is over, patients will be in the aisles in the last hour. We've had close to 20 ambulances. We had 15 here at one time. The ambulance is literally had to pick a number to get a parking place last

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year. At this time. Houston had recorded 30 homicides. We've had 45 this year, a 50% increase. Bottom line is more people are being shot and getting sick and more people need the services of mental hospital. The chief of staff here at Ben Taub Hospital says the

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system is at the breaking point and doctors and nurses are close to burn. Some of them are approaching burnout. Some of them are very frustrated just above you. On the third floor. I have an entire ward of empty beds that was decommissioned a year ago. Just

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down the street. I have the Quentin Mease that has never been reopened. I know there are beds there I see tears in the eyes of the nurses and the physicians when they know they're overcrowded. They're beds that patients could go into. But the lack of those

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beds being available makes them very sad. The american Hospital Association says the city of Houston size should have 1200 public hospital beds. Houston has almost 800. The reason we're short is money takes about $200,000 a year to fund just one bed dr. Maddox believes we need

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a summit of community leaders to set our priorities. Do we really need 600 more busses on our streets or 600 more hospital beds? It's time to decide. Alan Hamburger 13 eyewitness news?