For Memphis Dialysis Patients, the Care Must Go On
March 05--12:55 p.m.: Transit agencies and companies that take kidney patients to dialysis treatment had no option but to keep rolling on Thursday, despite the icy road conditions.
"The weight of the bus makes a big difference," Alison Burton said in explaining how the MATAplus buses were able to safely travel the roads.
"They have to drive slowly, stay in a certain lane, exercise extreme caution," Burton, a spokeswoman for the Memphis Area Transit Authority, said. "Our bus operators have performed very well during this weather."
MATAplus transports riders with special needs, picking them up at the curb of their residences. Many riders cancelled their reserved trips on Thursday, but many dialysis patients did not have the option.
Among those who braved the frigid temperatures Thursday was Elizabeth Haimes. MATAplus operator Dennis Swauncy drove his bus to her Whitehaven home, picked Haimes up, took her to a dialysis center on Union Avenue, then returned to the center at noon to take her home.
As Haimes slowly and carefully walked from the center's back door to the bus, Swauncy stayed inches behind her with outstretched hands to catch her in case she slipped.
Emmanuel Medical Services LLC used four ambulances to take 10 dialysis patients to their appointments on Thursday, a total of 20 trips.
"That's all we're doing today," Emmanuel operations director Scott Davis said of the dialysis center runs. "They have to get there,'' he said.
Dialysis is an artificial way of providing kidney functions, filtering and cleaning the blood.
"If we don't take these patients it compromises their health," Davis said. "If the clinics are open, we're running."
Missing treatments can shorten a patient's lifespan and even be fatal depending on the person's condition, Davis said.
A missed appointment can result in patients being unable to excrete fluids, which could build up around the lungs and heart, and also could raise the blood toxicity level to the point of the patient experiences septic shock, Davis said.
Staff reporters Thomas Bailey Jr., Yolanda Jones, Wayne Risher, Daniel Connolly, David Waters, Samantha Bryson and David Royer contributed to this story.
Copyright 2015 - The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
