Lacking patients, Camp Ripley medical volunteers head home
Doctors came, then went from unused Camp
Ripley
Maura Lerner, Star Tribune
September 10, 2005 RIPLEYMED0910
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CAMP RIPLEY, MINN. -- After a frantic week, the clinic for hurricane victims is just about ready.
But the medical staff is gone.
The last bus to Rochester rolled out of Camp Ripley at noon on Friday, ferrying home some of the 100 doctors, nurses and other medical personnel who had rushed to the military base near Little Falls last week to prepare for thousands of patients who never came.
The volunteers, from the Twin Cities, Rochester and elsewhere, had scrambled for days to transform the camp's recreation center and an aging infirmary into a state-of-the-art medical facility for up to 5,000 people.
But the effort came to a screeching halt after state officials sent word Thursday that only a few hundred hurricane survivors might be coming here after all, and not till next week.
"This is a disappointment at some level for all of us," said Dr. Tom Schrupp, a pediatrician at CentraCare in St. Cloud, who helped coordinate the medical plan.
The volunteers were sent home Friday, and organizers said they would call back only about a third of them next week -- if needed.
Kathy Briggs, a registered nurse from Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) in Minneapolis, was clearly disappointed. "I wanted to help," she said. "I helped in some way, but I didn't help the people of New Orleans or Biloxi."
Siegel Howard, a mental health worker at HCMC, felt the same way. "I don't think we played as big a role as we wanted to."
Most of the volunteers had signed up to go to the Gulf Coast, in response to a call for health care workers last week by state and federal officials. But last weekend, they were reassigned to Ripley, which was designated as a temporary home for people fleeing the crowded centers in the South.
The Mayo Clinic alone sent 59 employees, along with teams from some of the state's largest hospitals. They brought truckloads of supplies, stacked neatly beside colorful signs saying "Welcome to Minnesota."
The group even ran through practice drills, with volunteers playing patients in various states of distress. By Thursday night, nearly everything was ready.
Everything but the patients.
It was an "emotional roller coaster," said Dr. Milagros Santiago, a pediatrician from Children's Hospital of Minneapolis. "Are they coming? Are they not?" They never knew, from one day to the next.
And yet, she and others said, they were able to pull off an impressive feat -- assembling a fully operational clinic from scratch. "It does engender a sense of pride," Santiago said.
It was also, several said, great practice for the future.
"Even if we never see a patient walk through the door, I think we've made ... a great leap forward in preparation," said Dr. Robert Sicoli of Children's Hospital of St. Paul.
Dr. James Rundell of the Mayo Clinic agreed.
"Next time it happens," he said, "we'll know what to do."
Maura Lerner is at mlerner@startribune.com.
Link here
Ripley
Maura Lerner, Star Tribune
September 10, 2005 RIPLEYMED0910
?
?
CAMP RIPLEY, MINN. -- After a frantic week, the clinic for hurricane victims is just about ready.
But the medical staff is gone.
The last bus to Rochester rolled out of Camp Ripley at noon on Friday, ferrying home some of the 100 doctors, nurses and other medical personnel who had rushed to the military base near Little Falls last week to prepare for thousands of patients who never came.
The volunteers, from the Twin Cities, Rochester and elsewhere, had scrambled for days to transform the camp's recreation center and an aging infirmary into a state-of-the-art medical facility for up to 5,000 people.
But the effort came to a screeching halt after state officials sent word Thursday that only a few hundred hurricane survivors might be coming here after all, and not till next week.
"This is a disappointment at some level for all of us," said Dr. Tom Schrupp, a pediatrician at CentraCare in St. Cloud, who helped coordinate the medical plan.
The volunteers were sent home Friday, and organizers said they would call back only about a third of them next week -- if needed.
Kathy Briggs, a registered nurse from Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) in Minneapolis, was clearly disappointed. "I wanted to help," she said. "I helped in some way, but I didn't help the people of New Orleans or Biloxi."
Siegel Howard, a mental health worker at HCMC, felt the same way. "I don't think we played as big a role as we wanted to."
Most of the volunteers had signed up to go to the Gulf Coast, in response to a call for health care workers last week by state and federal officials. But last weekend, they were reassigned to Ripley, which was designated as a temporary home for people fleeing the crowded centers in the South.
The Mayo Clinic alone sent 59 employees, along with teams from some of the state's largest hospitals. They brought truckloads of supplies, stacked neatly beside colorful signs saying "Welcome to Minnesota."
The group even ran through practice drills, with volunteers playing patients in various states of distress. By Thursday night, nearly everything was ready.
Everything but the patients.
It was an "emotional roller coaster," said Dr. Milagros Santiago, a pediatrician from Children's Hospital of Minneapolis. "Are they coming? Are they not?" They never knew, from one day to the next.
And yet, she and others said, they were able to pull off an impressive feat -- assembling a fully operational clinic from scratch. "It does engender a sense of pride," Santiago said.
It was also, several said, great practice for the future.
"Even if we never see a patient walk through the door, I think we've made ... a great leap forward in preparation," said Dr. Robert Sicoli of Children's Hospital of St. Paul.
Dr. James Rundell of the Mayo Clinic agreed.
"Next time it happens," he said, "we'll know what to do."
Maura Lerner is at mlerner@startribune.com.
Link here
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