Dr. Lisa Kaufmann worked nonstop in the days before Hurricane Helene to ensure that her hospital system in North Carolina was ready, storing supplies including food, medicine, water, and equipment.
The chief medical officer of the three hospitals that make up UNC Appalachian Regional Healthcare System, Kaufmann, stated that the organization is currently facing another crisis, despite the fact that the storm’s violent floodwaters damaged a significant portion of the western part of the state about a week ago.
Forty-two North Carolina hospital staff are still unaccounted for, unable to be reached by phone and maybe stranded in regions that are unreachable.
Kaufmann stated, “We think the majority of them are probably OK.” “Everyone working here in any capacity is under a great deal of stress because they simply don’t communicate, but we don’t know.”
Although many healthcare professionals are used to stress, some who work in disaster areas claim that their new circumstances are making it worse.
Hannah Drummond, a registered nurse at Mission Health in Asheville and the top representative for National Nurses United, the union that represents nurses there, said it’s been an emotional roller coaster.
There are times when we can laugh and joke, and there are others when we’re holding each other and fighting back tears. These are the times when we can manage and compartmentalize and concentrate on the patient, according to Drummond.
She acknowledged that it has been encouraging to see her coworkers come together and support one another, but that it is emotionally taxing because her beloved town has been destroyed and individuals are still missing.
Drummond remarked, “We still have coworkers from whom we have not heard.” “People are going out to their addresses now that the patient load is finally decreasing because we can’t get in touch with them to see if they’re okay.”
“It’s like, are you dead or do you not have cell service?” She continued.
Only nine of the thirteen clinics operated by High Country Community Health are still open following the storm. As stated by Alice Salthouse, the chief executive officer and creator of the clinics, they first had trouble getting in touch with a large number of their employees.
According to Salthouse, “It was sickening.” It seems as though you work with people and spend roughly the same amount of time with them as you do with your family. We also collaborate. We work as a team, and many people were worried.
But after four days of incessant calls and messages, they were able to eventually get in touch with all 220 colleagues, which brought comfort and happiness.
Every time we would announce, “Oh, we got a hold of Vicky,” everyone would give each other a high five and nearly perform cartwheels, according to Salthouse.
Kaufmann claimed the number of personnel unaccounted for at UNC Appalachian was substantially greater shortly after the storm. She stated that around half of the 1,600 workers could not be reached. As a result, she used her creative side and recruited the marketing team to ask all staff members to utilize social media to check in and let them know if they were okay.
“That number began exploding with calls from employees trying to get through to let people know that they’m okay and that this is my status regarding whether I can report to work,” among other things, Kaufmann said. “We were able to contact a large number of individuals.”
Despite the fact that several workers are still missing after several days, Kaufmann said she is still optimistic and focusing her worry and concern on figuring out how to locate them.
“People are making an effort to connect with others if they know someone who lives nearby,” she stated. “The search and rescue personnel possess names of individuals who are believed to be missing, and they go house by house across the counties, navigating the thicket of fallen trees, to make sure everyone is okay.”
