Local nurses recall service in quake-ravaged Haiti one year later

In our "Neighbors" series, we give you a personal look at the people who are serving your community. If you would like to nominate someone for this column, contact Judy Prieve at 925-779-7178 or e-mail jprieve@bayareanewsgroup.com.

By Roni Gehlke
Correspondent

As first responders with the San Francisco Bay Area Disaster Medical Assistance Team, Aileen Hayes and Lynn Fox were part of the first wave of nurses that was on site at the earthquake in Haiti a year ago.

The earthquake took the lives of 230,000 people and left more than 300,000 people injured. The two Sutter-Delta Medical Center nurses stayed to help as many as they could for two weeks.

The local nurses’ team was on call during January when the disaster hit, said Hayes, an emergency room nurse. "When the call came in about the earthquake, we were on a plane the next day to Haiti."

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit just 16 miles from Haiti’s capital on Jan. 12, 2010, leaving over 1,000,000 homeless. Along with the first earthquake there were a reported 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater, causing more injuries for several weeks after the first earthquake.

The registered nurses slept outside on the American Embassy grounds. Hayes said it was pretty rustic. Even so, this was nothing new to either Hayes or Fox as they both have been with the team during several relief missions.

"I have also been deployed to New York in September 2001 for the 911 Twin Towers attack, as well as Hurricane Katrina," Fox said. "Several other hurricanes, and the Democratic National Convention in 2008."

Fox said Haiti was the team’s first international deployment.

Once the team was able to get started much of the work was assessing the patients’ needs, treating sprained and broken limbs and ribs, stitching and bandaging cuts, and keeping the patients as comfortable as possible.

"We began providing care from two tents set up as urgent care and emergent care for those in the camp surrounding us," Fox said. "We worked 12-hour shifts and treated various types of injuries and medical problems. We even delivered a baby."

"We didn’t have any surgery capabilities," Hayes said. "We had to wait until the USS Hope arrived."

Hayes said that she became involved with the San Francisco Bay Area Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) CA6 team through Fox. Inspired by her Holy Rosary Church group vacation Bible school, Hayes was looking for another similar organization to work with and found that this team was just what she was hoping for.

For Fox working with this team has been a fulfilling experience.

"Through our training, teamwork and professionalism we have done the very best we could under the conditions we have experienced on every past deployment, including Haiti, and any future ones," he said. "In disasters of this kind you have to take the small victories. Many times you cannot do much but things like delivering the baby. Treating a sick child makes a huge difference for those individuals."

Both Fox and Hayes found the Haitian people were very gracious, friendly and nonviolent. The people in Haiti aren’t used to health care and many times the nurses needed to convince them that they were there to help and accepting care was a good thing.

"There are two things that stick with me, and I will remember forever. One was walking throughout the tent city of tens of thousands providing care surrounded by curious onlookers and those needing care. It was eerie but exhilarating at the same time. I’ll never forget that," Fox said.

"The second was providing care from the back of a military truck in the middle of a dirt road debriding burns on the legs of a young girl miles from nowhere."

After five deployments with the team, Hayes said that she wished she could work doing these services full time.

"I love working with the people and being able to use my skill set as an emergency nurse in places where they need it the most," she said. "Doing this has given me a whole different outlook on life."

Around Oakley: Recently retired Dennis Nunn worked quietly behind the scenes for Oakley

By Roni Gehlke
For the Contra Costa Times

Sometimes it is hard to believe how quickly time goes by. Over the past month on several occasions I've had the opportunity to see old Oakley friends whom I haven't seen in quite a while. Some are still working quietly behind the scenes in Oakley to keep the town running. In many cases, the public doesn't even know their names.

Before Oakley was incorporated into a city more than a decade ago, there was a small group called the Oakley Municipal Advisory Council or OMAC. OMAC consisted of five Oakley residents who met a couple of times a month, like the Oakley City Council does today, and listened to the concerns of the people, and with the help of the Contra Costa County staff and supervisors, made decisions for the town.

These people had far from local control, but they were the only advocates Oakley residents had to fight for their concerns. The leader of that group for many years in the 1990s was Dennis Nunn.

Last week Nunn retired from his staff position at the Ironhouse Sanitary District, but I couldn't let him leave without making sure that people realized what an important role he held, not only at the district, but also for the city of Oakley. A role that, for the most part, has gone unnoticed over the years.

Nunn may not be part of the City Council those know today, but he was an important part of shaping the city of Oakley. As part of OMAC, he worked on many committees and spent countless hours going to meetings and speaking for those who normally didn't have a voice with the county supervisors.

He also worked for many of the beginning years on the Oakley Incorporating Committee and helped Oakley become a city. He worked as the chair of the committee alongside another dedicated Oakley resident, Kathi Baladad.

Before taking on the job at the Ironhouse Sanitary District, he sat on the district's board for seven years. This was back in the late 1980s when a lot of changes were being made at the district, which was working on incorporating with Bethel Island into one special district and building its first plant.

In the early 1990s Nunn took time out of his already busy schedule to chair the Oakley Almond Parade for the Oakley Almond Festival committee, and he briefly served on the Oakley Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

Nunn also volunteered on the board of directors of the Delta Family YMCA in the 1990s.

In 1996 he received a special lifetime achievement award for his service to the community from the Oakley chamber. It's an award that has only been given out to three people over the years.

As he retires from the sanitary district he will also be retiring from the levee district RD830, a position he has held for nearly two decades.

Nunn was an employee of the sanitary district for 17 years, working as the administrative services manager. Also retiring from the district last week was John Mitosinka, who worked for 11 years as the vehicle/equipment mechanic.

There are so many others, like Nunn, who aren't remembered as much as they should be for all of the important work they did for their community. Even though that work was done years ago, it is no less important than the work that is done now. The legacy of their work lives on in the community where you live today.