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16 Friday, May 2—Assessment, Assessment Key West, Florida At 3 a.m., the pier experienced its first death. Around 2,000 people arrived that night, and in the midst of the chaos, a woman died on the pier. “The poor, elderly woman who did not even want to come here had died. Castro had emptied out the prisons and had also sent the terminally ill and elderly from the hospitals,” Dupes recounted (Dupes journal, May 2, 1980). Dr. Zarantz, a volunteer from Jacksonville’s Saint Vincent’s Hospital, called Dupes at the infirmary to inform her of the situation. She told him they couldn’t move the body until a medical examiner came. Not long after, Zarantz called again to say that they had to move the corpse; people were walking all over it, and there was nothing else they could do. Later, Zarantz and a nurse visited Dupes at the infirmary, hysterical over how the Cuban doctors were conducting business. To quiet things down, Dupes decided to take them to the EOC to see what was happening. “I couldn’t help remembering Dr. McCasland’s lecture on stress, adrenalin and the dangers physically imminent in a situation like ours. We are all very, very tired.” Dupes wrote (Dupes journal, May 2, 1980). McCasland was as concerned about the volunteers and medical responders as he was the incoming refugees. “I will never forget a 72-­ year-­ old-­ man, lying on the deck of a small boat at the dock in Key West. He had been forced out of a hospital, could not walk, and had a colostomy bag that had not been emptied for days. He looked up at me and in broken English said: ‘Thank God I can die in a free country’” (McCasland 1991). “As things heated up and the numbers of refugees became unmanageable, we experienced breakdowns in transportation, feeding, and delivery of basic medical care. We saw a larger number of criminals and patients with long-­ term mental and physical disabilities. As it became more and more frustrating 152 • Chapter 16 trying to provide the best care possible in an inadequate environment, I kept thinking about that old gentleman and what being in the U.S.A. meant to him. These are the experiences that allowed us to ignore the stress of working 22-­ hour days, in excessive heat and humidity and the lack of adequate resources. We had an important job to do, and we did it” (McCasland 1991). Later, an exhausted Dupes went back outside in the pouring rain and drove her nursing home van behind a building, where she plugged away on her little portable typewriter, documenting the day’s events. Upon leaving, she backed the van up without looking. The hook of a nearby dumpster crashed into the rear window and effectively hung the van. Extremely embarrassed, she called a tow company and then went back to work. Once dry, she laughed at how ridiculous the situation was (Dupes journal, May 2, 1980). Inside the infirmary, babies were crying all night, and the weather was extremely hot and muggy. While lying on her cot, Dupes thought back to the baby born on the dock a few days ago. The baby and mother had been airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital, and now for the first time Dupes allowed herself to think about their status. “Was the baby a U.S. or Cuban citizen?” She pondered. “Things are happening so fast I can’t keep track of time” (Ibid.). Dupes finally fell asleep around 6 a.m. Almost immediately, volunteer nurse Isabel Bikel frantically woke her. There were termites everywhere, flying all over the clean linens and patients, floating in the disinfectant, and sticking to soap in the lavatory. The Army Corps of Engineers, it appeared, had fumigated upstairs , intending to use the upper level initially as offices and then for refugee sleeping quarters. But they had not fumigated downstairs, where the medical workers and refugees were housed. Dupes tried to open windows (which had been jammed shut earlier to keep out the rain) to let out the termites. As she looked out, the sight surprised her. Just outside the harbor, ships sat with their guns pointed directly at the infirmary . “My heart sank, and I was speechless,” she recalled. “Isabel started to panic, but nobody down at the dock seemed to be panicking.” Dupes called EOC and was told the ships were part of the fleet diverted from Guantánamo exercises to...

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