National Nurses United

[A STAFF REPORT] Eye of the Storm Nurses in New York assess not only patient, but societal needs after Hurricane Sandy he rns made their way through giant piles of garbage and debris buried under dunes of sand, climbing up pitch-black staircases with bags of food, water, and medications to visit apartment-bound disaster victims, many of whom had not left their homes since the terrifying hurricane passed through two weeks before. With no open hospitals or drugstores, nurses helped elderly patients get critical blood pressure, diabetes, and heart medication prescriptions filled. They talked with expectant and new mothers struggling in freezing weather to take care of themselves and their babies without heat, electricity, or running water. And they listened to people from all walks of life who just needed a caring person to talk to and help them process the trauma of what they had experienced. No, the nurses were not responding to victims of disaster in Haiti, Sri Lanka, or some other undeveloped country. They were assessing Americans living in the coastal communities of Coney Island, the Rockaways, and Staten Island���all technically New Yorkers living no more than 10 miles away from Manhattan, the most populous and urban center in the nation. Like all disasters and with Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy exposed the ugly and vast socioeconomic inequalities of life in the United States. The Oct. 29 hurricane knocked out gas and power and flooded many mid-Atlantic neighborhoods, ultimately wreaking some $50 billion in damage. But Manhattan, the commerce, financial, and wealth center of New York City and arguably the entire country, was ���back to normal��� within a few days of the hurricane, T 10 N AT I O N A L N U R S E with crews working around the clock to get power up, tunnels clear, and trains running. For New Yorkers living in housing projects and other low-income communities, life after Sandy turned into a struggle for survival. Many were without heat, electricity, and running water for two and a half weeks or more after the storm. Disabled, elderly, and other vulnerable residents became stuck in their high-rise apartments because elevators were not working and they could not safely navigate their buildings��� long, narrow, blackened stairwells. Local hospitals, drug stores, and supermarkets were shuttered, their inventories ruined by floodwaters. There was no garbage service, creating unsanitary conditions in apartment buildings and neighborhoods. And, of course, some people���s houses were literally washed away. Volunteer RNs with the New York State Nurses Association immediately responded to the need for healthcare professionals to help hurricane victims and provide medical assessments. And a team of RNs and staff with National Nurses United���s Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN) traveled to New York City, too, to support the New York nurses��� efforts and help identify and facilitate volunteer opportunities for nurses with grassroots groups as well as with city, state, and federal agencies. After having deployed RN volunteers to various disasters, including Katrina and Haiti, RNRN is experienced at finding safe volunteer opportunities for nurses while at the same time maximizing the use of their medical skills and abilities. ���It was a pretty surreal experience,��� said Katy Roemer, an obstetrics RN from California who participated on the RNRN team and made house visits with other medical volunteers. ���I would spend my day tromping up and down stairs in the dark, through garbage, then go back at night to Manhattan to a warm hotel. One night, I went to W W W. N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G DECEMBER 2012

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