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C A L I F O R N I A N U R S E O C T O B E R 2 0 0 5 19 DOUBLE THE PROBLEMS Baton Rouge may well be the evacuee epi- center in the storm's aftermath. The popula- tion of East Baton Rouge Parish, which includes the capitol of Baton Rouge, swelled from over 400,000 people to nearly 800,000 people within a week of the storm. Evacuees from the poorest areas of New Orleans flood- ed the city with a myriad of needs. CNA quickly responded to a plea from A.J. Varner, nursing director at Earl K. Long Memorial Hospital, a facility that serves the indigent and un- derserved population of Baton Rouge. CNA sent nurses to staff units that were beginning to bloat with an influx of patients from quickly erected shelters and clinics in the area surrounding the city. "The California nurses are our angels," said Varner. Earl K. Long's sister hospital, Charity Hospital of New Orleans, was in the news and in dire straits as food and water supplies ran out in the days following the hurricane. The Associated Press re- ported that patients died at the hospital waiting for help. Many of Charity's surviving patients were evacuated to Earl K. Long. CNA nurses worked on all units, from the ER to the NICU, where evacuated babies have been reunited with their mothers. In the ER, Sandy Suarez of Michigan, an RN who signed up for hurricane relief as an NNOC member, said, "These are people who don't have a doctor here, or they may not have money to see a doctor. They are coming into the ER to fill prescriptions. The ER is being utilized as a clinic, for every need you can imagine." In the small amount of spare time these nurses have between shifts, they give inoculations at a local woman's shelter or Red Cross evacuee center outside the hospital. New Orleans evacuees also were bused to the Houston As- trodome, so CNA/ NNOC nurses were sent there as well. "Bus after bus arrived on into the night," says Barbara Reece, chief nursing officer of the Harris County Hospital District in Houston. The district was responsible for setting up the highly efficient clinic, which held nearly every department of a tradi- tional hospital, in the sports complex. Eventually, 25,000 people arrived at the Astrodome and 8,000 were housed. The numbers were overwhelming. "I want to per- sonally thank the California Nurses Association for their assis- tance," said Reece. She added that CNA was the only "planned group" that came to the Astrodome and that others "just showed up." Reece praised the CNA representative for providing a smooth transition for nurses to deliver care. After sending evacuees to shelters in sur- rounding states and across the country, the number of people in the Astrodome de- creased to 4,000–5,000 by late September. Many nurses, aware that there is no clear, orchestrated plan among relief agencies to house people or provide follow-up care, ex- pressed concern for the future of the evac- uees now leaving the Astrodome. "These people will have significant need for a long time to come," says Rachel Carver, RN, from Bakersfield, who worked triage at the Astrodome. DELIVERING THE RNS A number of nurses were frustrated in their initial attempts to contact disaster relief agencies. "I kept watching the news and it was horrible," said a nurse from the San Joaquin Valley. "I called Red Cross several times and they didn't get back to me. Then I saw the CNA Web site. I had my ticket the next day." Delamos said, "CNA made it easy to be here. I was shocked that it would be so easy. The swift response made me proud to be a member of CNA." Connie Paradee, an RN from UC Davis Medical Center, is not currently a CNA member but said that CNA's response to the hurricane has inspired her to join. Paradee works under an "open shop" contract at UC Davis, which gives the benefits of union membership to all staff but does not require workers to join, a practice that can sap the strength of unions. "The way the CNA representative came to my assistance when my hospital would not release me to help with the hurri- cane was amazing," said Paradee. "CNA really wanted us to be here, and they made it happen." Her experience stood in sharp contrast to what some nurses experienced with official agencies on the ground. In a parking lot in Gulfport, Miss., a temporary hospital had been erected by FEMA to house evacuees who were being released from other hospitals, but had nowhere to go. Two RNs brought to the hurricane zone by CNA responded to FEMA's urgent call to deliver care to patients who, officials said, would arrive imminently. Despite a flurry of officials on cell phones throughout the day, the hospital remained empty; the patients never arrived that day. Returning to the active assignment CNA set up directly with a local hospital, the nurses expressed frustration. One called it "a situation of mass miscommunication" and didn't blame aid workers because they were "doing what [they were] told." An- other nurse pointed out, "CNA never waited around asking some- one's permission on how to proceed. They just sent nurses directly to the people." CNA/NNOC continues to send nurses, and nurses continue to champion the cause of Hurricane Katrina's most vulnerable victims. As one CNA nurse said, "We're nurses. This is what we do. How can we not get involved?" Erin FitzGerald is a freelance writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. This story is reprinted from Revolution magazine. Help Send RNs CNA/NNOC continues to send RNs. Your tax deductible contributions are used for travel and housing costs for RNs. Nurses are volunteering time. Donate online at www.calnurses.org or call toll free 888-397-0346 Checks made out to "California Nurses Foundation Disaster Relief Fund" may be sent to: Disaster Relief Fund, c/o CNA, 2000 Franklin St., Oakland, CA 94612 Lorraine Simmons, RN, checks on a baby who was separated from her parents for eight days after being evacuated from New Orleans to the Earl K. Long Memorial Hospital in Baton Rouge.