Author: J. Onbertdones

By the time Hurricane Maria hit the Dominican Republic, it had reached 155pmh winds making it a Category 5 hurricane. Like Puerto Rico and many other Caribbean countries, the Dominican Republic faced deaths and flooding.

One barrier that affected the access to care for those after hurricane Maria was that the Caribbean islands had just been hit with hurricane Irma fairly recently. Just as the population was beginning to clean things up, another category 5 hurricane comes and destroys many of the already battered shelters and healthcare facilities.

Luckily the Pan American Health Organization is just one of the organizations taking steps to cover medical supplies and establish health services in the countries in need.

The flooding made sanitary conditions a priority. The hurricane caused an increase in mosquito and rodent activity on the island. This cause not only causes a risk for vector born diseases, but also flood associated diseases, including cholera and hep A.

Trauma care that might be needed in a situation like this would include providing clean water and clean shelters. Other trauma interventions that would be important could be mental health treatments. Trauma affects people in different ways and there might be a high need for mental health services after an even like this.  

I think we are still learning, but after events like this it becomes apparent the importance of preparing for these events. The teams did a great job helping out the population that was affected, but there is always room to improve.

References:

Critical Health Response Ongoing due to Hurricanes Maria and Irma in the Caribbean. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2018, from https://reliefweb.int/report/dominica/critical-health-response-ongoing-due-hurricanes-maria-and-irma-caribbean

Hughes, T. (2017, September 21). ‘The country is in a daze’: Hurricane Maria ravages Dominica. Retrieved April 11, 2018, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/20/hurricane-maria-blamed-least-7-deaths-caribbean-islands/685030001/

Osborne, M., Winsor, M., & Jacobo, J. (2017, September 22). Hurricane Maria leaves trail of death and destruction in the Caribbean. Retrieved April 11, 2018, from http://abcnews.go.com/International/hurricane-maria-strengthens-category-ravaging-puerto-rico/story?id=49997188

By the time Hurricane Maria hit the Dominican Republic, it had reached 155pmh winds making it a Category 5 hurricane. Like Puerto Rico and many other Caribbean countries, the Dominican Republic faced deaths and flooding.

One barrier that affected the access to care for those after hurricane Maria was that the Caribbean islands had just been hit with hurricane Irma fairly recently. Just as the population was beginning to clean things up, another category 5 hurricane comes and destroys many of the already battered shelters and healthcare facilities.

Luckily the Pan American Health Organization is just one of the organizations taking steps to cover medical supplies and establish health services in the countries in need.

The flooding made sanitary conditions a priority. The hurricane caused an increase in mosquito and rodent activity on the island. This cause not only causes a risk for vector born diseases, but also flood associated diseases, including cholera and hep A.

Trauma care that might be needed in a situation like this would include providing clean water and clean shelters. Other trauma interventions that would be important could be mental health treatments. Trauma affects people in different ways and there might be a high need for mental health services after an even like this.  

I think we are still learning, but after events like this it becomes apparent the importance of preparing for these events. The teams did a great job helping out the population that was affected, but there is always room to improve.

References:

Critical Health Response Ongoing due to Hurricanes Maria and Irma in the Caribbean. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2018, from https://reliefweb.int/report/dominica/critical-health-response-ongoing-due-hurricanes-maria-and-irma-caribbean

Hughes, T. (2017, September 21). ‘The country is in a daze’: Hurricane Maria ravages Dominica. Retrieved April 11, 2018, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/20/hurricane-maria-blamed-least-7-deaths-caribbean-islands/685030001/

Osborne, M., Winsor, M., & Jacobo, J. (2017, September 22). Hurricane Maria leaves trail of death and destruction in the Caribbean. Retrieved April 11, 2018, from http://abcnews.go.com/International/hurricane-maria-strengthens-category-ravaging-puerto-rico/story?id=49997188

By the time Hurricane Maria hit the Dominican Republic, it had reached 155pmh winds making it a Category 5 hurricane. Like Puerto Rico and many other Caribbean countries, the Dominican Republic faced deaths and flooding.

One barrier that affected the access to care for those after hurricane Maria was that the Caribbean islands had just been hit with hurricane Irma fairly recently. Just as the population was beginning to clean things up, another category 5 hurricane comes and destroys many of the already battered shelters and healthcare facilities.

Luckily the Pan American Health Organization is just one of the organizations taking steps to cover medical supplies and establish health services in the countries in need.

The flooding made sanitary conditions a priority. The hurricane caused an increase in mosquito and rodent activity on the island. This cause not only causes a risk for vector born diseases, but also flood associated diseases, including cholera and hep A.

Trauma care that might be needed in a situation like this would include providing clean water and clean shelters. Other trauma interventions that would be important could be mental health treatments. Trauma affects people in different ways and there might be a high need for mental health services after an even like this.  

I think we are still learning, but after events like this it becomes apparent the importance of preparing for these events. The teams did a great job helping out the population that was affected, but there is always room to improve.

References:

Critical Health Response Ongoing due to Hurricanes Maria and Irma in the Caribbean. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2018, from https://reliefweb.int/report/dominica/critical-health-response-ongoing-due-hurricanes-maria-and-irma-caribbean

Hughes, T. (2017, September 21). ‘The country is in a daze’: Hurricane Maria ravages Dominica. Retrieved April 11, 2018, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/20/hurricane-maria-blamed-least-7-deaths-caribbean-islands/685030001/

Osborne, M., Winsor, M., & Jacobo, J. (2017, September 22). Hurricane Maria leaves trail of death and destruction in the Caribbean. Retrieved April 11, 2018, from http://abcnews.go.com/International/hurricane-maria-strengthens-category-ravaging-puerto-rico/story?id=49997188

By the time Hurricane Maria hit the Dominican Republic, it had reached 155pmh winds making it a Category 5 hurricane. Like Puerto Rico and many other Caribbean countries, the Dominican Republic faced deaths and flooding.

One barrier that affected the access to care for those after hurricane Maria was that the Caribbean islands had just been hit with hurricane Irma fairly recently. Just as the population was beginning to clean things up, another category 5 hurricane comes and destroys many of the already battered shelters and healthcare facilities.

Luckily the Pan American Health Organization is just one of the organizations taking steps to cover medical supplies and establish health services in the countries in need.

The flooding made sanitary conditions a priority. The hurricane caused an increase in mosquito and rodent activity on the island. This cause not only causes a risk for vector born diseases, but also flood associated diseases, including cholera and hep A.

Trauma care that might be needed in a situation like this would include providing clean water and clean shelters. Other trauma interventions that would be important could be mental health treatments. Trauma affects people in different ways and there might be a high need for mental health services after an even like this.  

I think we are still learning, but after events like this it becomes apparent the importance of preparing for these events. The teams did a great job helping out the population that was affected, but there is always room to improve.

References:

Critical Health Response Ongoing due to Hurricanes Maria and Irma in the Caribbean. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2018, from https://reliefweb.int/report/dominica/critical-health-response-ongoing-due-hurricanes-maria-and-irma-caribbean

Hughes, T. (2017, September 21). ‘The country is in a daze’: Hurricane Maria ravages Dominica. Retrieved April 11, 2018, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/20/hurricane-maria-blamed-least-7-deaths-caribbean-islands/685030001/

Osborne, M., Winsor, M., & Jacobo, J. (2017, September 22). Hurricane Maria leaves trail of death and destruction in the Caribbean. Retrieved April 11, 2018, from http://abcnews.go.com/International/hurricane-maria-strengthens-category-ravaging-puerto-rico/story?id=49997188

Self care can be anything from maintaining clean hygiene to meditation. It encompasses things we do on a day to day basis, and we may not even know we are participating in self care.

For example, I like to do nothing after clinical days. I will sit in front of the television with my girlfriend and binge watch Grey’s Anatomy. Other days I might go to the gym and lift weights for an hour and a half. What I think is most important is having someone to talk about my day with. I’ve learned that it’s important to sort through the day and and think about how it makes me feel.  In the hospital we don’t get much time to reflect on events and how they might effect us, that’s why I think it’s important to have that time for introspection.

During clinical days I will usually take a 15 minute break to grab some coffee, it’s nice to get away for a little bit. During my lunch I will sit in my car and watch videos online, just to relax my mind a little bit. One thing I’ve been doing to increase my water intake is every time I go to get my patients water, I try to drink some water myself. That way, even if I don’t feel thirsty, I remember to have water.

One friend I asked told me that one thing she does for self care is making sure to take her lunch despite how busy she is. She makes sure to take that time to sit down and eat her lunch.

Self care is important because:

1. It helps to prevent burn out.
2. If we can’t take care of ourselves, what makes us qualified to take care of others.

Self care can be anything from maintaining clean hygiene to meditation. It encompasses things we do on a day to day basis, and we may not even know we are participating in self care.

For example, I like to do nothing after clinical days. I will sit in front of the television with my girlfriend and binge watch Grey’s Anatomy. Other days I might go to the gym and lift weights for an hour and a half. What I think is most important is having someone to talk about my day with. I’ve learned that it’s important to sort through the day and and think about how it makes me feel.  In the hospital we don’t get much time to reflect on events and how they might effect us, that’s why I think it’s important to have that time for introspection.

During clinical days I will usually take a 15 minute break to grab some coffee, it’s nice to get away for a little bit. During my lunch I will sit in my car and watch videos online, just to relax my mind a little bit. One thing I’ve been doing to increase my water intake is every time I go to get my patients water, I try to drink some water myself. That way, even if I don’t feel thirsty, I remember to have water.

One friend I asked told me that one thing she does for self care is making sure to take her lunch despite how busy she is. She makes sure to take that time to sit down and eat her lunch.

Self care is important because:

1. It helps to prevent burn out.
2. If we can’t take care of ourselves, what makes us qualified to take care of others.

Self care can be anything from maintaining clean hygiene to meditation. It encompasses things we do on a day to day basis, and we may not even know we are participating in self care.

For example, I like to do nothing after clinical days. I will sit in front of the television with my girlfriend and binge watch Grey’s Anatomy. Other days I might go to the gym and lift weights for an hour and a half. What I think is most important is having someone to talk about my day with. I’ve learned that it’s important to sort through the day and and think about how it makes me feel.  In the hospital we don’t get much time to reflect on events and how they might effect us, that’s why I think it’s important to have that time for introspection.

During clinical days I will usually take a 15 minute break to grab some coffee, it’s nice to get away for a little bit. During my lunch I will sit in my car and watch videos online, just to relax my mind a little bit. One thing I’ve been doing to increase my water intake is every time I go to get my patients water, I try to drink some water myself. That way, even if I don’t feel thirsty, I remember to have water.

One friend I asked told me that one thing she does for self care is making sure to take her lunch despite how busy she is. She makes sure to take that time to sit down and eat her lunch.

Self care is important because:

1. It helps to prevent burn out.
2. If we can’t take care of ourselves, what makes us qualified to take care of others.

Self care can be anything from maintaining clean hygiene to meditation. It encompasses things we do on a day to day basis, and we may not even know we are participating in self care.

For example, I like to do nothing after clinical days. I will sit in front of the television with my girlfriend and binge watch Grey’s Anatomy. Other days I might go to the gym and lift weights for an hour and a half. What I think is most important is having someone to talk about my day with. I’ve learned that it’s important to sort through the day and and think about how it makes me feel.  In the hospital we don’t get much time to reflect on events and how they might effect us, that’s why I think it’s important to have that time for introspection.

During clinical days I will usually take a 15 minute break to grab some coffee, it’s nice to get away for a little bit. During my lunch I will sit in my car and watch videos online, just to relax my mind a little bit. One thing I’ve been doing to increase my water intake is every time I go to get my patients water, I try to drink some water myself. That way, even if I don’t feel thirsty, I remember to have water.

One friend I asked told me that one thing she does for self care is making sure to take her lunch despite how busy she is. She makes sure to take that time to sit down and eat her lunch.

Self care is important because:

1. It helps to prevent burn out.
2. If we can’t take care of ourselves, what makes us qualified to take care of others.

Growing up, it seemed like my family members were always on some type of medication. I don’t remember when it started, it just seems like they always took pills before bed. As the years passed I heard words like “high blood pressure” and “diabetes.” These words meant nothing to me at the time but now I know they were the reason my family members were taking those pills. For my interview I had a conversation with my parents. They had been taking their medications for a long time so they knew what they were taking and to my surprise they even knew about brand vs. generic names. When it came to talking about side effects and safe doses, I seemed to lose them. They had no clue about the safe doses of their medications, assuming the pharmacist and doctor knew what they were doing and that they would take care of them. I stressed the importance of information and especially with medications it’s not necessary to put all the faith in health care workers who are human and can make mistakes.

Growing up, it seemed like my family members were always on some type of medication. I don’t remember when it started, it just seems like they always took pills before bed. As the years passed I heard words like “high blood pressure” and “diabetes.” These words meant nothing to me at the time but now I know they were the reason my family members were taking those pills. For my interview I had a conversation with my parents. They had been taking their medications for a long time so they knew what they were taking and to my surprise they even knew about brand vs. generic names. When it came to talking about side effects and safe doses, I seemed to lose them. They had no clue about the safe doses of their medications, assuming the pharmacist and doctor knew what they were doing and that they would take care of them. I stressed the importance of information and especially with medications it’s not necessary to put all the faith in health care workers who are human and can make mistakes.