Just got an email from Judy Kettenhofen. If you are planning on helping with the Hurricane relief efforts, these are some good tips to keep in mind...
"I am an EMT, formerparameic, nursing student and red cross volunteer (butnot in disaster services...)
1) Don't forget spiritual literature--for yourself, aswell as others. You will see death, I have no doubtof this; be prepared. Music might be helpful, too.
2) Triage. Triage is the process of "sorting" peoplein a medical disaster. The idea is to spread limitedresources to do the most good. This means figuringout where efforts can most make the difference betweenloss of life and limb and life and wholeness. Thequick'n'dirty of triage is that people are sorted intothree groups:
1) the dead (black tag);
2) those forwhom help can make a difference (not sure, red oryellow tag); and
3) those who may be injured, but whowill survive without intervention. People with brokenlimbs belong in group 2. Those who are pulseless, notbreathing, the only allowed intervention is to opentheir airway. If that doesn't help, they areblack-tagged. On arriving on scene, ask those who canhear your voice and are able to move to oneside--those are, generally, your group 3.
3) Broken limbs are more urgent than probably manynon-medically trained people realize. People can"bleed out" internally. Fat can escape from brokenbones into ripped blood vessels causing loss ofcirculation--in all kinds of parts of the body,depending upon where the fat circulates to. Brokenlimbs should be splinted in the position they arefound. The only reason this shouldn't be done is a)if traction is required for certain kinds of femurfractures--but you won't likely have traction splints.and b) if the part of the limb furthest from the body,further than the break, becomes cold and pulseless.
4) Body water. Infants and the elderly are mostsuspectible to problems with dehydration. Elderlyfolks' sense of thirst is reduced, and should beencouraged to drink even when not thirsty because ofthis. Infants and children compensate very well,without significant symptoms, until they stopcompensating, in which case they deteriorate rapidly.The first sign of shock is restlessness/anxiety--inall ages. Obviously, hard to tell when a) people areunder stress already and b) you don't know how theyare normally. Lower blood pressure is a LATE sign, avery bad sign, of shock. Diarrhea and vomiting cancause dehydration rapidly--you are likely to see afair amount of this due to the poor sanitataryconditions.
5) Along with first aid supplies, including(especially) splints (I don't think you can takeenough...) include a fair amount of antibiotic cream,which is available "over the counter". With the hotand humid conditions, lack of clean water, exposure todirty conditions, decreased resistance due to stressand lack of food can rapidly lead to infection. Gold's bond powder or "clone" is very helpful in thediscomfort of heat rash.
6) Take care of yourself. Do not put yourself in (toomuch) danger--you can't help if you get injured. Takecare of yourself emotionally; take breaks. When youreturn, some form of therapy will be helpful. Evenwhen a few people were shot in San Jose, the publicservice folks (police, fire, paramedics) participatedin what is a Critical Incident Stress Debriefing(CISD). When you come back, you may be able to findsomeone, like the American Red Cross, who will let youparticipate in their CISDs. Don't be ashamed thatthings affect you; even medical professionals can'thelp but be affected by the deaths of their patients.
7) Oh, and BTW, when I've done things like handing outturkeys at Thanksgiving, we've talked to STOREMANAGERS to get turkeys donated. I'm sure Walmartwouldn't mind the good publicity you might be able togive them from donating to your cause. (Hey, we werecollecting for Tony Robbins' graduate group, and Idon't recall having any ID--so it's always worthtrying...). We also didn't give any credit to thegrocers, so they gave *without* any positive publicitygiven to them. I know in our area, Walmart can useany + publicity it can get, however... :)
8) Pass any of this information on to others for whomit will be helpful, and take care of yourselves. Youare in my prayers. God bless you.
