Snow makes for a busy night at BC Hospital

Friday, Dec. 19, 2008 | 5:57 p.m.

When Deb Balido arrived at work at Boulder City Hospital on Wednesday, she hadn't figured on being there for 29 hours.

Then again, she never figured on being socked in by the biggest snow storm to hit in three decades.

The winter storm, which left some areas in the region buried in up to 8 inches of snow, slowed traffic between Boulder City and Las Vegas starting in the afternoon and shut it down entirely about 8 p.m., when police closed U.S. 93 at Railroad Pass.

Balido, chief nurse, said only one of nearly a dozen employees from Henderson and Las Vegas made it to work for the evening shift starting at 6:30 p.m. — and it took that person more than four hours to get there.

As a result, some of the nurses, medical records and lab staff, respiratory and dietary technicians and housekeepers ended up working double shifts.

They tended to a steady stream of patients, some who slipped in the snow and had fractures, sprains and contusions, keeping the hospital busy throughout the night.

Balido arrived at work about 7:30 a.m. on the morning of the big snow and didn't leave Boulder City until 12:30 p.m. the next day. She rested for four hours in that time.

"I'm really proud of the nursing staff," she said. "They were making arrangements for their families as they were still providing care, and they never lost focus of their patients."

Craig Bailey, the hospital's director of business development, called the day "a disaster, in a positive way."

Balido said five people from out of town who were visiting patients spent the night on roll-away beds or recliners or bunked in empty patient rooms.

Dietary staff fed the trapped visitors and staff snacks at night and breakfast in the morning, she said.

Cassie Tomlin can be reached at 948-2073 or cassie.tomlin@hbcpub.com.