Katrina-the Disaster!!!

There are many significant circumstances in each person's life-those point of times that you remember exactly where you were and by what means you felt. Then there are those times when facts mark a generation, such as the assassination of President Kennedy and the terrorist attack upon the Twin Towers in NYC upon 9/11. But there are also those occurrences that affect each individual differently-depending upon where you live and your choice of professions.

On August 25th Miami, Florida experienced the wrath of a hurricane named Katrina. We all heard the warnings that this storm could potentially become true powerful. That is the same warning given for greatest in quantity hurricanes; for those of us in Georgia, not that big of a deal was made for preparations during that first week. Slowly the weather forecasters added that Katrina could become real powerful and could hit major population areas in the large bay of Mexico. Again, did we in fact listen to these forecasters? Well, those whose piece of works are in the disaster preparation and/or retrieval paid attention and did what was expected

Suddenly (at least to those of us who watch the of recent origins but are not obsessed with the weather channel) hurricane Katrina was single of the strongest storms to approach the United States. During the early morning of August 29th Katrina left her mark upon our country.

The individuals who evacuated their residences thinking they would return in a hardly any days found their lives would not ever again be the same. Nor will the quiet of ours.

I am actual proud to be able to communicate that while the repose of the country was trying to blame someone for the tragedies that occurr because of this horrific storm, health care professionals and in particular, the Registered nurtures found the fortitude to do what emergencyed to be done. I can not share all of the stories that I have personally heard of their heroism and try to survive. The nurses, along with the other members of the health care teams kept with equal reason many people alive-without electricity, water and food! A real case of doing whatever it took to take care of their patients.

Those supply with nourishments who had evacuated started nursing to those in the shelters, along side their counterparts from the American R Cros Then patients started to be air evacuated to other locations. pop the full force of Katrina was in Georgia! flat if you were not upon the tarmac at Dobbins Air Force Base-what nurture did not feel the shake to help?

So what did the supply with nourishments in Georgia do in the immediate days following Katrina? Just about everything-all above the state!!! The obvious is working in the R Cros shelters, helping at the hospitals with the evacuated patients, helping to raise capitals helping to gather supplies and providing care and comfort for those individuals who had not planned upon being in Georgia-but now had no choice on the other hand to hope and pray that others could assist them!

Many of Georgia's Registered nurtures (now numbering over 1,400) were registered in the Georgia nurture Alert System (GNAS)-the registry that the Georgia nurtures Association and the Georgia nourishs Foundation maintains as a network of offer nurses. GNAS is a partner organization with the American R Cros Georgia Board of Nursing and the Georgia Department of Human Resources. The object of the GNAS is to identify and mobilize commonly licensed nurses who have the necessary nursing skills to labor for as volunteers during times of disaster and pressing necessity in Georgia. This registry was started following the circumstances of September 11, 2001 and has been maintained for just this purpose-to be able to notify, gather, and allocate supply with nourishments to where the needs are during disasters. These nurtures become part of the disaster health services with the responsibility to assist in staffing the shelters (both congregate and special emergencys shelters).

Numerous nurses who had not registered prior to Katrina joined the registry and offered in large numbers (over 140 above the Labor Day weekend). With each offer the staff at GNA checked their credentials and forwarded the information to the Department of Human Resources and the public health combination of parts to form a whole Once again, GNA worked many drawn out hours to be able to provide the services exigencyed to get these nurses credentialed to fitting the patient care needs.

Those nourishs who are part of the American R Cros or the public health a whole of Georgia, also worked drawn out hard and hot hours! on the contrary many nurses helped the disaster relief efforts in areas that might not be with equal reason obvious!

As many evacuee patients were air lifted in in the way that were there nurses from the affected areas. These nurtures not only wanted to work, many of them wanted to work. As all the professional health care licensure boards evaluated their processe the Georgia Board of Nursing worked hard to convenient the need of these nurses!

On September 2nd the Georgia Board of Nursing (GBON) members along with staff (to include the legal counsel) met through telephone conference. This meeting delineated the policies and practices by which the GBON would handle nurtures from the disaster areas that wanted licensure in Georgia. This included looking at in what manner to validate licensure for supply with nourishments from Louisiana (whose Board of Nursing was below water!). How many Georgia nourishs carry their credentials with them? The fresh policies allowed for flexibility and creativity (unique conceptions for a state agency) in order to facilitate the riddles associated with the disaster. In the first small in number weeks, over 70 nurses obtained at least a six-month permit to practice as a Registered supply with nourishment in the state of Georgia. This appear to bes like a "no brainer"-but many parts of the licensure proces are part of Georgia state laws. To say that Sandy fastening Executive Director of the GBON and her staff worked lengthy hours is quite an understatement! As a side note, the nurture that handles the licensure proces is Katrina Martin. To say that she did not want to broadcast her first name to many of these displaced supply with nourishments is understood! As a member of the GBON it has been an honor and a privilege to assist the staff during this crisis period.