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appeared 10 November 1998
Hurricane Mitch
Survivor Asks for Relief Assistance
A group of UCSF Stanford Health Care professionals who went to Nicaragua on a volunteer
mission had to be rescued last week from the wrath of Hurricane Mitch, which has killed an
estimated 11,000 people throughout Central America.
James Ressler, a senior physician assistant in the department of orthopedic surgery, was
one of eight health care workers from the UCSF Medical Center who were in Central America
offering free medical services when the deluge of rain cut the humanitarian mission short.
 The health care team had to be rescued in stages by Nicaraguan helicopters --
the only way to escape the relentless floods and landslides that followed Hurricane Mitch.
Ressler, who took the trip as part of Operation Rainbow, an international effort to
provide medical services to children and to educate physicians in developing countries,
arrived safely to his San Francisco home last Wednesday. He is making an urgent appeal to
the campus community to donate much needed medical supplies,
such as IV fluids and antibiotics, as well as food and water.
"The numbers of people affected by the disaster is staggering," says Ressler,
who said he never feared for his life. "The area has been decimated and the
infrastructure has been completely destroyed."
While countries, including the US, have since donated helicopters to add to Nicaragua's
rescue efforts, tens of thousands of people are still stranded and in need of food, water
and medicine.
In Nicaragua, rains caused the Casitas volcano to burst and spill tons of mud onto
villages, and the Izapa River overflowed its banks and washed away the Pan-American
Highway, the main link between northwest Nicaragua and the rest of the country. And while
some highways are functioning again, the severed main road has further hampered the
country's relief effort, according to media reports.
The danger will continue as survivors face serious threats from infectious diseases of all
kinds, Ressler says.
"The wrath of wet weather puts Nicaraguans at risk for cholera, malaria and Typhus,
among other diseases. And as such, they will need lots of IV fluid hydration and
antibiotics," he says.
"Of the 30,000 or 35,000 inhabitants of Esteli, 5,500 had nothing and were put into
shelters," Ressler says. "They had no pots or propane to boil water, so many
people had to drink rain water."
Arriving in the nation's capital of Managua on Oct. 24, Ressler and colleagues traveled
three hours north the following day to work in a government hospital in the central town
of Esteli. They were able to spend two days performing operations to correct congenital
defects, such as club foot, before the storm became a factor.
"The third day of surgery was canceled because a national emergency was
declared," says Ressler. "The people there are very loving and resourceful so
they understood the situation."
And as dramatic as his second trip to Nicaragua was, it will not be Ressler's last.
"Everyone felt that we would be able to go back there in six months to finish the
job."
 Monique Cesna, a nurse at the UCSF Medical Center, was
in Honduras during the hurricane as a volunteer for Interplast, an international
organization that provides reconstructive surgeries to children with cleft lips, cleft
palates and other debilitating birth defects. Her group left the country just in the nick
of time, taking the last flight out of San Pedro Sula airport, arriving back in San
Francisco on Oct. 29.
"We were fortunate to get out when we did," Cesna said. "The airport we
flew out of is now ten feet under water."
Although they had to cut their trip short, the doctors and nurses on the Interplast team
managed to complete 50 surgeries in the five days they were there. They plan to return to
Honduras next year, or earlier, depending on the need, Cesna said.
How to Help
1. Oscar Garcia, a native of Nicaragua who is a registered respiratory
therapist at the UCSF Medical Center, is coordinating the relief effort on campus to
provide basic supplies and over-the-counter medicines.
Garcia has set up a collection point for emergency relief materials in the Respiratory
Care Service Office, Room M 69 in the basement of Moffitt hospital. A drop-off point has
also been established at UCSF/Mount Zion, Room 704. He's looking for non-perishable food,
including baby formula and dry milk, and drugs such as Tylenol and aspirin. (Complete list of priority items) Collected materials have already
been airlifted, courtesy of La Taca Airlines, to Honduras and Nicaragua. Garcia, who will
be collecting goods through Nov. 20, will send the next shipment to Guatemala.
2. As part of the UCSF and UCSF Stanford Charitable Giving Campaign,
which began this week, financial donations can be made to support the relief effort. Under
Section "C" on the Charitable Giving form, write "American Red
Cross-Hurricane Relief." On the return envelope, write "Hurricane Relief"
and the form will be processed immediately.
3. UCSF and Airborne Express have joined forces to send supplies to
Central America. Boxes and containers are being placed at various UCSF locations. For
questions regarding the Charitable Giving Campaign or the UCSF/Airborne Express relief
effort, call Katherine Riordan at 476-0729. (Complete list of
priority items.)
Links:
Operation Rainbow
Interplast
UCSF Nurse Changing Children's
Lives (Daybreak)
Stanford's website on
how to help
Source: Lisa Cisneros, Newsbreak
editor and Paula Murphy, Daybreak editor |
