Nurses Volunteer to Help Typhoon Victims

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

Nearly 500 registered nurses from across the country have volunteered to go to the Philippines to help victims on the ground. Many of the volunteers are originally from the Philippines....

Video | NBC Southern California

Specializes in ER.

I was just reading that yesterday. That would be a life changing experience to assist during a disaster. Here is the article I read:

"It's Just in Our Nature": Hundreds of Nurses Volunteer to Aid Typhoon Victims | NBC Southern California

Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

University of Michigan Health System nurse heads to Philippines to provide typhoon relief

Tim Launius will travel to the Philippines on Saturday with a team of registered nurse volunteers to provide medical support in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan. ...

... Lanius and nurses from New York, Las Vegas and Southern California, will be the second team sent by the National Nurses United's Registered Nurse Response Network to provide relief.

"I'm not sure what I'll be doing once I get there," Launius said. "It could be anything from trauma to first aid or working in an operating room. I just want to help in any way I can."

Launius will leave Saturday morning after only 43 hours to prepare for the 11-day trip.

"I got a call Thursday afternoon and I'm leaving at 7:30 in the morning on Saturday," Launius said. "I had to round up coworkers to work for me, I've had to get a series of shots and I've been buying clothing appropriate for the trip. Luckily the people I work with stepped right up to the plate and it took no time at all to have my 60 working hours covered. "

This will not be Launius's first experience with disaster relief efforts.

"After Hurricane Katrina I went to Texas and essentially ran a diabetic clinic," Launius said. "It was a rewarding experience. We have the ability and technical skills to help, which is why I signed up to volunteer in the Philippines."...

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2013/11/university_of_michigan_health_26.html

Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

On Thanksgiving, Sparrow nurse headed for Philippines to help cyclone victims feels 'blessed'

Ashley Forsberg, a registered nurse with the Sparrow Health System, will be head to the Philippines on Saturday for two weeks as a part of a contingent of nurses from the National Nurses United Registered Nurse Response Network.

The Delta Township resident has spent most of this Thanksgiving week preparing by getting vaccinations for malaria, yellow fever, and typhoid fever as well as antibiotics to prevent gastric infections.

"I just found out late Saturday evening," said Forsberg, who has been nursing since 2005. "They sent a first team to deal with the provincial government to see what supplies were available, and what they needed to bring in and the second deployment was this past Saturday and that nurse from Michigan had literally two days' notice. I've been blessed with at least a week."...

... "I'm looking at the abundance of everything we have [in the United States] and the ease of how I can pick up travel size items," she said. "I wonder if these people even have toothpaste or where are they washing and cleaning. Dehydration is a major factor because many of them don't have fresh water.

"We're talking about parents that are barely holding on themselves," she added. "They're bringing their kids into the clinics they've established. It's been three weeks [since Haiyan] and some of them are just now being seen."

She said she is grateful that Sparrow is allowing her to take time off.

"It feels like a blessing that I have this avenue to do this," she said. "I'm glad that I was able to answer the call. Hopefully, I'll be able to make a difference and be a blessing to the people there."...

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Ashley Forsberg of Delta Township is headed to the Philippines as a part of a group of nurses who are volunteering to help people affected by Typhoon Haiyan

http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2013/11/local_nurse_heads_to_philippin.html

Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

Las Vegas nurse volunteers to help typhoon victims in the Philippines

Myra Hidalgois, a registered nurse who works at MountainView Hospital, was to leave this morning, which means she was hurriedly packing Friday night for the 16-hour trip, with layovers in Los Angeles and Korea.

Dressed in blue scrubs and cut loose early from her 12-hour shift, Hidalgois, 32, said she was excited to be chosen as part of a seven-nurse contingency, the latest in a wave of thousands of nurse volunteers sent by the National Nurses United's Registered Nurse Response Network.

Her ultimate destination: Roxas City on the northern end of Panay Island.

Her mission: To serve as a nurse, check for vital signs, distribute medication, tend to the injured and vaccinate those who need vaccinating. In short, to do what she's been trained to do....

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Myra Hidalgois, a registered nurse at Mountain View Hospital, packs for her trip to the Philippines at her Las Vegas home Friday. Hidalgois, 32, is one of seven people from National Nurses United's Registered Nurse Response Network going to help those affected by the typhoon. (Samantha Clemens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas-nurse-volunteers-help-typhoon-victims-philippines

Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

Duluth nurse trades Christmas holiday to aid victims in Philippines

... A member of the R.N. Response Network, Anna Rathbun works in the ICU at St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth.

On Friday, she learned she will be traveling to the Philippines on Monday for two weeks.

The death toll from last month's typhoon stands at more than 5,200. More than 25,000 were injured.

Skilled medical care is critically needed for a wide range of health issues.

Rathbun is one of seven nurses making the trip sponsored by National Nurses United.

"People are donating their money, I'm donating my time, you know, I have the ability, I have the skills I have the time. My co-workers will take excellent are of the patients that are still in Duluth while I'm gone. I really feel like I need to help people who are really in need right now," said Anna Rathbun, a registered nurse with RN Response Network.

Rathbun says 3,000 Registered Nurses across America and in other 19 counties are standing by to help typhoon victims.

As donations come in more will be deployed.

If you would like to donate to National Nurses United click here.

http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/local/Duluth-nurse-trades-234845391.html

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