Since Sept. 11, New York City has been inundated with requests from individuals wishing to volunteer. The city had to turn away many applicants, but it did not refuse three burn nurses from Utah.
Burn nurses require at least six months of on-the-job training, and there are few burn centers in the country that can provide it. University Hospital is one of few hospitals with a burn center between the Mississippi and the West Coast.
“Regular nurses cannot step into the environment,” said Lezli Matthews, manager of the burn trauma intensive care unit at the U. “It’s much more efficient to get help from burn-trained nurses.”
The New York Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan already had been using volunteer nurses from the East Coast in its burn center since Sept. 11. When Cornell requested additional help, several U burn nurses responded. Kimberly Hobday, Bret King and Pam North were eager to volunteer and the first to apply, and they were selected to serve for two weeks at Cornell.
“It is difficult” to cope with the loss of the three nurses, Matthews said. “I have other nurses working overtime to fill in the slots.”
When they left for New York three weeks ago, the three nurses immediately became employees of the federal government, which paid all their expenses. The government also paid their salary, but according to its own pay scale.
“It was quite a bit less” than their University Hospital salary, said King, who used vacation time to help finance the endeavor. “I don’t even know what [the pay] was; it was some military scale.”
King’s days at the Cornell burn center were not much different than those at the U. The Utah nurses treated 16 burn patients; seven were victims of the World Trade Centers. Severely burned victims require around-the clock care. Every day, King spent two to three hours changing the dressing of the patients, many of whom had third-degree burns on 70 to 80 percent on their bodies. King also had to monitor the patients’ breathing continually during his 12-hour shift.
Because the patients are intubated (breathing through an inserted tube in the airway), King had to interact with the relatives often. King, who has 12 years of experience as a burn nurse, was touched by the amount of support the families of different patients gave each other.
“It didn’t seem as real” watching it on television, King said. “Being there brought it a lot closer to home.”
Seeing the disaster site also made an impression on the nurses. The three stayed in a hotel only a five-minute walk away from the Cornell burn center. Except on one of their few days off, they didn’t see much of New York.
“We walked [what seemed like] 50 miles” around town, Hobday said. A “hot-steel smell” permeates the city.
“It’s absolutely horrifying when you look at the tragedy,” Hobday said, describing her feeling of seeing ground zero one day. “I’d never forget that.”
Because treatment of the patients was ending sooner than expected, Cornell extended the Utah nurses’ stint to three weeks instead of bringing another set of new volunteers.
After returning last week, the three plan to teach other nurses what they learned. They are thankful for the opportunity to help. The experience increased North’s appreciation for the fragility of life and the loved ones around her.
“I realized that [during] every action you make,” North said while fighting back tears, “you need to tell them that you love them.”