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Meet The Doctor In Charge Of Dallas' Largest Shelter For Hurricane Harvey Evacuees

Cathy Frisinger/UT Southwestern Medical Center
Dr. Raymond Fowler (far left) is a professor of Emergency Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and an emergency room physician at Parkland Hospital.

About 700 people spent the night Thursday at the shelter at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

Caring for evacuees after a natural disaster presents a huge medical challenge, which Dr. Ray Fowler of UT Southwestern Medical Center knows well.   

He's a hurricane veteran who got his start with Hurricane Katrina and is now the medical director for the downtown Dallas "mega shelter."

In this interview, you'll hear: 

  • Dr. Fowler's experience treating evacuees during Hurricane Katrina. 
  • Challenges facing evacuees coming to the Dallas shelter. 
  • The personal toll of treating patients in a disaster situation. 

Dr. Raymond Fowler is a professor of emergency medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and an emergency room physician at Parkland Hospital. 

Former KERA staffer Krystina Martinez was an assistant producer. She produced local content for Morning Edition and KERANews.org. She also produced The Friday Conversation, a weekly series of conversations with North Texas newsmakers. Krystina was also the backup newscaster for the Texas Standard.
Rick Holter was KERA's vice president of news. He oversaw news coverage on all of KERA's platforms – radio, digital and television. Under his leadership, KERA News earned more than 200 local, regional and national awards, including the station's first two national Edward R. Murrow Awards. He and the KERA News staff were also part of NPR's Ebola-coverage team that won a George Foster Peabody Award, broadcasting's highest honor.