More health professionals needed in areas devastated by Hurricane Ian
MIAMI - The medical needs in Southwest Florida continue to grow and on Thursday night the Broward County Medical Reserve Corps called on more healthcare professionals to volunteer through their organization to provide much-needed assistance.
Support the organization has provided over the last few weeks since Hurricane Ian ravaged the region.
"Important to give back to the community, especially when there are needs," said Dr. Vania Fernandez.
She practices medicine in Broward County. Two weeks ago, she traveled to Fort Myers to the Hertz Arena, housing more than 1,000 survivors from the storm at one point.
"They can have COPD, heart conditions where they need their meds," said Fernandez. "But they don't have anything. Their house is gone, meds are gone."
Medical assistance from volunteers bridges the gap and coordinates getting medicines for patients.
Dr. Fernandez signed up to provide care through the Broward County Medical Reserve Corps. A group that recruits and deploys volunteer medical professionals during disasters, working closely with the American Red Cross.
"One patient, when they got there, realized they had a stroke and had to send them to the hospital," shared Dr. Warren Sturman. "One person had COVID pneumonia and had to go to the hospital. Had we not been there, it might not have been recognized."
Unit leader Dr. Sturman says the Medical Reserve Corps leads the state effort to coordinate and deploy medical teams.
"Unless they've been credentialed and deployed by us, they won't be used over there," said Dr. Sturman.
Psychiatrist Dr. Renee Noyola paused her vacation to lend a hand and uplift people in shelters struggling to cope with anxiety and feeling overwhelmed.
"Grieving all the memories from the home that they have was tough," said Noyola. "Having to start again and worried about what that next step is going to look like."
"Talking to some veterans in the shelter, they had already been diagnosed previously with PTSD. Here they are experiencing this. Talking about their symptoms and how they increased recently. A lot of people feeling just feeling overwhelmed by the whole process."
The next significant need is on Sanibel Island, destroyed by the storm, to fully staff an Urgent Care facility.
"People are injuring themselves trying to put things back together as well as people who need to have routine things like refilling prescriptions," said Sturman.
Dr. Sturman says each assignment is a day trip, not to take away resources from the region. He's calling on more to volunteer through the corps, from doctors, nurses, and any individual to help with other tasks.
To join the effort, visit Browardmrc.com to sign up.