Marin nurses, back from Puerto Rico, urge more hurricane relief

Oct. 30--Under a sweltering Puerto Rican sun two weeks after Hurricane Maria hit, thousands of victims -- including, children, babies, the elderly and people in wheelchairs -- formed a mile-long line awaiting aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency team that had just arrived at a stadium in Rio Grande.

Some traveled by foot six hours and longer to seek help. Many were malnourished and dehydrated, and some with chronic illnesses had been lacking medications since the storm. Several collapsed in line.

This was just one scene witnessed by Corte Madera resident Erin Carrera, a registered nurse who joined 50 other nurses from across the country to offer medical aid in Puerto Rico on a two-week assignment with the Registered Nurse Response Network, a project of the Oakland-based National Nurses United.

It's the reason the nurses who returned from the journey say the federal response has been ineffective, describing what they call deadly conditions, with people living in houses infested with black mold and who are contracting waterborne illnesses, such as leptospirosis, from a contaminated water supply.

The assignment in Rio Grande came on Carrera's second day on the island. She said FEMA workers were only registering residents to determine needs and handing out only snacks and small bottles of water.

"I cannot express enough how urgent it is that they receive water, food and medical help and infrastructure support," said Carrera, who works at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. "And they needed this yesterday. They needed this weeks ago."

Carrera was among 17 Bay Area nurses, three from Marin County, who joined a delegation organized by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization. The team of nurses arrived in San Juan on Oct. 3, where it worked out of a baseball stadium that was set up as headquarters.

'Deeply disturbing'

Some of the nurses who helped on the relief effort joined House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress on Thursday to call for increased aid to confront what they are describing as a humanitarian crisis.

"It's deeply disturbing that the Trump administration continues to pat itself on the back," Pelosi said. Just because something has been done, it doesn't mean much more doesn't need to be done."

"Seventy-five percent of Puerto Ricans lack power, 35 percent do not have cell service, 1 million lack clean running water, one quarter of sewage treatment plants are still not functioning," she said. "We are calling on President Trump and the administration to treat this as a national emergency, with the urgency that Puerto Rico deserves."

The Category 5 storm made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, ravaging the island and killing at least 51, according to news reports.

Carrera and others who joined in the disaster relief effort said that when they drove caravans through towns, two and three weeks after, it was the first time that some of the communities received any help. Many volunteers took it upon themselves to buy food, water, diapers, first-aid supplies and other items to distribute to the residents whose homes were destroyed and had little to nothing.

No power, no cash

Fairfax resident Sandy Alder Killen, a nurse at Kaiser Permanente Richmond, said that part of the problem was a lack of communication between the disaster relief crews.

"There was no central communication center, no central office coordinating the response," which is why many communities outside of the major city hubs hadn't yet been reached -- and why several volunteers took it upon themselves to purchase and distribute supplies, she said.

"There is no power, ATMs aren't working, people who had cash ran out of it quick," she said.

San Rafael resident Bill Farella, a nurse at Alameda Hospital, also volunteered. He said the crews also spent a lot of time teaching the communities about water safety and treating contaminated water.

"When the residents said we were the first help they had seen, that brought it home for me," he said. "I am grateful to have helped in whatever way I did."

Upon returning, Carrera started a GoFundMe.com page to raise money for water filters to send to the island, and quickly reached her goal of $5,000. Another volunteer from Eureka has set up a page to raise $20,000, which has now surpassed the goal by some $30,000.

The Senate last week gave final passage of a $36.5 billion package for hurricane and California wildfire relief.

Carrera said more help is needed and urges residents to pressure officials to offer more help.

"We are asking that they ramp up FEMA, and make all Puerto Ricans eligible for Medicaid," she said. "It's a health care crisis; it's my country; these are my brothers and sisters. They need this now. We are going to see another wave of public health crisis."

More information is at responsenetwork.org

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