Twin Cities Nurse To Aid Philippines Relief Effort
Megan Cassidy, RN, deploys as part of national nurse response network
 

For Immediate Release:

January 13, 2014

(Minneapolis, MN) - Colleagues at North Memorial Medical Center & Children's Hospital in Minneapolis aren't surprised to learn they will be covering Megan Cassidy's duties for the next two weeks.  On Jan. 15, Megan Cassidy heads to the Philippines to lend her skills to victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda.  In 2010, as part of Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN), a relief effort coordinated by National Nurses United, Cassidy helped families in the rubble of the Haitian earthquake.  She returned to the island on her own one year later.  This week, she begins her stint as part of the fifth team of RNRN volunteers, flying to Roxas City on the northern end of the island of Panay, which was in the direct path of the storm.

"I am honored to be asked," said Cassidy.  "This is an area I am passionate about - it reminds us that although our world is big, our community is small."  Cassidy is convinced that using the basic tool of health care helps break down barriers among people and connects us all in our suffering – and joy.
   
The ED and pediatric ICU nurse would be the last to call herself a hero, even though she saves lives every day.  Using her professional skills to help Filipinos get back on their feet is no different.  "It's hard for me to imagine that I give more than I take," said Cassidy.

Cassidy responded to a call for help from the Registered Nurse Response Network sent through the Minnesota Nurses Association-National Nurses United.  Cassidy is part of the fifth deployment of nurses from around the country.  The team includes RNs from New York, Minnesota, Texas and California. They are among the 3,000 RNs from all 50 states and 19 nations who volunteered in the days after the deadly storm to assist with the relief project for Haiyan/Yolanda.

The super typhoon killed over six thousand people, left almost two thousand missing and 4 million either homeless or with damaged homes.

The RNRN volunteers have worked in conjunction with local public health officials, physicians, a church and other community supporters, providing wound care, giving tetanus and other shots, offering critical stress debriefings, and other basic care.

National Nurses United invites the public to contribute to the effort at  www.sendanurse.org. 

RNRN, a project of National Nurses United, the nation’s largest organization of RNs, was formed in 2004 in the aftermath of the South Asia tsunami in 2004, when the need for nurses was not being met by traditional disaster relief organizations.  Since that time RNRN has send hundreds of direct-care nurse volunteers to assist following Hurricane Katrina, the massive earthquake in Haiti, and Hurricane Sandy.