Experience in Dominica was life changing – Volunteer nurses

“It was a bit emotional… some would have lost loved ones, some would have lost everything that they owned… We wanted to make a difference… to let them know here we are, we care, we love you – we’re going to do all that we can to help you.”

Following the widespread damage and destruction caused by Tropical Storm Erika in Dominica, {{more}}St Vincent and the Grenadines sent a volunteer team of nurses there to give medical assistance – led by Sister Elizabeth Medford.

In an interview with SEARCHLIGHT, Medford said that although the experience was “devastating”, she and the other members of the team have become “stronger and better professionals” for it.

On September 5, Medford, who is the head of the Accident and Emergency Department at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, set off for Dominica with four other nursing professionals – Sister Patricia Allen (family nurse practitioner), staff nurses Jameil Bartholomew and Sharmila Bradshaw (both emergency room trained and holders of bachelor’s degrees in nursing) and staff nurse Petra Davis, who has extensive training in the Intensive Care Unit and emergency and recovery rooms.

Although the team had been briefed thoroughly on what to expect in the flood-ravaged island, the devastation they encountered was still shocking.

Medford recounted that although they were relieved to find that electricity and water supplies had been mostly restored, the loss of life and physical destruction was “heart-wrenching”.

“We saw all of the destruction; villages covered in mud… It was really heart-wrenching,” she lamented.

In addition to that, Medford said that it was jarring to see huge parts of mountains eroded from the heavy rainfall, and the massive boulders that had washed down with the rivers.

“It just goes to tell you the force of the water… the whole town was just flooded. We saw buildings where they are undermined – just hanging there with nothing underneath…”

Originally scheduled to work in the Accident and Emergency Department at the Princess Margaret Hospital, the team of Vincentian nurses ended up working on the various wards instead, because the hospital was short-staffed of nurses.

Medford also explained that many of the Dominican nurses (instead of the foreign nurses) had been sent out into the communities to give medical care, because a lot of the persons afflicted were elderly, and mostly spoke French patois – not English.

“The first day we got there and we started working, the charge nurse… she called me and said ‘matron, these nurses are very efficient. They are functioning on their own, and they are doing very well. I really think they will manage the wards well.’ So they sent the [Dominican] nurses out and we stayed on and managed the wards,” she recalled.

“The wards were overflowing; every available space they had a bed with a patient in it. All outside in the corridors… A ward that would normally have like 15 patients had 27, 30 patients!”

Medford said that a significant number of patients who came to seek medical treatment were asthmatics who had been affected by the residual dried mud that had come with the flooding.

Additionally, she also saw many cases of gastroenteritis, and those suffering from hypertension and other cardiovascular conditions.

Other duties included assisting with minor surgery, insertion of tubes, applying dressings, setting up and inserting intravenous drips, dispensing medication, supervising the wards and some other administrative duties.

With shifts running from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., Medford said that she and the rest of team never paid attention to the time – they just kept working.

“When we finished, we would have some dinner, get some rest, and next day we were ready to go again… We went there initially just for one week, but towards the end of the week, the matron… asked us to stay on for one more week!”

That extra week was cleared by officials within the Ministry of Health, and the team of nurses stayed on delivering vital assistance.

Not only was the staff at the Roseau based hospital grateful for the hard work of Medford and her team, but also the patients.

“We were the only nurses who were working in scrubs because the Dominican nurses were working in their uniforms; so people recognized us… people were so thankful! Even the nurses on the ward, because they were able to get time off to go home and sort out their families,” she enthused.

“Even when we walked on the street… people would just come up to us and hug us… One lady actually cried…”

Medford said that while the team was in Dominica, two other tropical waves passed over that caused additional flooding.

“We actually got flooded out of our hotel room one night… but they relocated us. We were fine. But rain in Dominica is not like what we have here – it was an experience. It was buckets!”

Overall, Medford described the trip was “very educational”, in terms of what they observed in the hospital; and they hope to implement (here in SVG) several practices that can make the nursing experience “more efficient”.

Medford, who has extensive training in emergency room and intensive care unit management, said that the way in which the Vincentian nurses operated in Dominica was bolstered by their experiences during the December 2013 floods here in St Vincent.

“The thing with nursing is that all the care is the same. You would have to manage critical patients, just that it would be more in numbers. That is why we were able to function, and function so well; we knew the processes, we knew what we had to do… Our care of nursing here in the St Vincent is very high,” she explained.

“I left [Dominica] feeling very pleased and very satisfied that what we are doing here, we are doing an excellent job here in St Vincent and the Grenadines. We worked along with nurses from other areas, but I think we outshone them all – not boasting eh!”

The team returned to St Vincent and the Grenadines on September 16, with glowing letters of commendation from Dominica’s Ministry of Health and the Princess Margaret Hospital (Roseau).

Medford said that she is thankful to God for protecting the team while they operated in Dominica, and for ensuring safe travelling to and from the island. She also extended deep gratitude to various officials within the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment (SVG) for their moral support.

And last, but by no means least, she thanked the other team members for their hard work and dedication, describing them as the “best team anyone could ever have worked with”.

“They worked really hard. Nobody looked at the time… The patients, everyone was just so… grateful. That motivated us to do more.” (JSV)