(St Paul) – When the call came for help, dozens of nurses from Minnesota offered to travel halfway around the world, but Duluth Registered Nurse Anna Rathbun was selected to be one of seven nurses to head to the Philippines this Monday. Rathbun will be heading to Roxas City, on the Panay Island to provide medical support for those affected by the Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda.
“They’ve lost everything,” Rathbun said, “and the place where I hope to go is one of the impoverished areas of the Philippines. The people there need help more than anyone else.”Rathbun, an RN at St. Luke’s Intensive Care Unit was chosen for her experience helping the most serious patients that come through the hospital, even though she’s been a nurse for only three years.
“I’ll do whatever’s needed to save somebody’s life. I have the skills to help people in need,” Rathbun said, “I may be bandaging wounds or administering medicine, but even if I can just be a listening ear that helps make a difference. You never know who will come forward to help.”
Rathbun responded to a call for help from the Registered Nurse Response Network sent through the Minnesota Nurses Association-National Nurses United. Rathbun is part of the third deployment of nurses from around the country and joins nurses from Massachusetts, Arizona, California, and Maine selected to make the trip this week. In some parts of the islands, the situation has gotten worse. An oil spill situation that occurred off the coast of Estancia was inflamed by the typhoon. Citizens on the coast and now inland are facing dramatically worse health hazards than just those brought by the typhoon.
Rathbun leaves Monday, December 9, and won’t return until the end of the month, which causes her to feel torn about leaving her current patients in Duluth.
“I decided to go because I know the nurses I work with,” Rathbun said, “and I know our patients will be well taken care of. I think I can use my skills in a place that really needs help.”
So far, more than 3,000 RNs from all 50 states and 19 nations have volunteered through RNRN of NNU to assist with the relief project for Haiyan/Yolanda. Donations for care can still be accepted through this link: http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/pages/rnrn-disaster-relief-fund
