National Nurses United

"A big part of our job was listening," said Mercedes Nunez, an RN at Kaiser Fremont who has volunteered on four other RNRN deploy- ments. "I listened to people tell their story. Sometimes they didn't want medical care, they just wanted to sit and talk. They didn't know what was going to happen, where they were going to live." "People were in shock, coming off that initial adrenaline of escap- ing the fire," said Devlin. "The ones I talked to were older. I worried about them going to meet their insurance adjuster alone. I asked if they had anyone who could go with them and encouraged them to call anyone they might know." For Manuel Xavier Belderol, an RN at Keck Medical Center of USC in Los Angeles, this deployment hit close to home. Two of his coworkers lost their homes to the Palisades Fire and his son's high school burned down. Belderol wanted to volunteer because he "wanted to give back." Caring for people at their most vulnerable is why many people become nurses and why they volunteer with RNRN. The camarade- rie and teamwork among the volunteers are special. "We really form a bond during that short time," said Christina Schonbrun, an RN in the bone marrow transplant and hematology unit at UC San Fran- cisco. "The feeling is: We're all in this together. It wasn't hard work, but it was emotional work." Perry agrees. "I love the volunteers I work with every time. It's like a family," said Perry, who has volunteered on four other disaster- relief RNRN deployments, including the Camp Fire in Paradise, Calif. "We all have mutual friends or worked together on past deployments." "Deploying brings life to my everyday practice," said Guerrero Huertas. "It shakes me up and I come back renewed and rejuvenated." "There is nothing like volunteering and getting out of your com- fort zone," said Sandoval, who also volunteered with RNRN in 2013 after Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda in the Philippines. "It gives you an appreciation for what you have." Chuleenan Svetvilas is a communications specialist at National Nurses United. J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y | M A R C H 2 0 2 5 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 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 21 Volunteering with RNRN What can you expect during a deployment with Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN)? Here's some advice from RNRN nurses who volunteered in Los Angeles County after the Eaton and Palisades fires. Be ready Sign up to volunteer and get RNRN email alerts at www.national- nursesunited.org/rnrn. Apply to volunteer when you get an alert about an upcoming deployment. If you are contacted, be ready to leave at any moment. "I was on standby for about a week before I heard back," said Mary-Jane Perry, an ambulatory sur- gery RN at Kaiser South Sacramento. "Then I was asked if I was ready to go in two days." Be flexible You could be rotating shifts and assigned to work the night, day, or evening shift. "You do whatever is needed, whenever it's needed," said Mercedes Nunes, RN in the medical-surgical, telemetry unit at Kaiser Fremont. "Be prepared for anything." "It's always a lot of moving pieces," said Tammi Bachecki, an ICU nurse at Kaiser Vacaville. "Go into it with an open mind. What you're going to do can change at a moment's notice, and it could change three times a day. If you like a set schedule, RNRN may not be your thing." Expect the unexpected Accommodations and food vary according to available resources. For this deployment, nurses stayed at a hotel in downtown Los Angeles. In 2017, for the RNRN deployment to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, nurses slept on cots in a stadium. "You could be living off packaged food and protein bars," said Tammi Bachecki, an ICU RN at Kaiser Vacaville, who had been deployed with RNRN after Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas in 2019. "There was no running water in Grand Bahama, so we couldn't take a shower. We used towelettes to wash ourselves." OPPOSITE: RNRN volunteer Jeanette Gregory, RN at Red Cross shelter at Pasadena Convention Center. ABOVE: RNRN volunteers Manuel Xavier Belderol and Mary-Jane Perry at Pasadena Convention Center. OPPOSITE AND ABOVE: TAD KEYES

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