by Cindy A. Abole, Public Relations
Stephanie Nolan could hardly contain her excitement.
Her reaction is not typical to men and women in uniform who are called to action by their nation.
Nolan wasn't going to war, she was going to apply her medical skills to support victims of a modern-day tragedy: the flight of more than 600,000 ethnic Albanians out of their homeland in Kosovo and Macedonia.
Nolan
shares a smile and light moment with two Kosovan children.
Working as an emergency trauma nurse at MUSC hospital, Nolan was in the middle of her evening shift when she received news from her husband that she had been called to action. For Nolan, deployment meant reporting for duty as a Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) member. She joined other South Carolina colleagues and thousands of other men and women who were called to action to support "Task Force Open Arms" at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The federal operation provides aid and relief to about 20,000 Kosovar refugees who have been entering the United States since May.
For Nolan, herself the daughter of Hungarian and Czech parents, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Nolan is a member of the South Carolina DMAT, comprised of 50 physicians, nurses, paramedics, physician assistants, therapists, nurse practitioners and other support personnel who train and volunteer as a rapid response force which provides relief for national disasters and overseas conflicts. DMAT is a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Office of Emergency Preparedness and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Nolan joined nurses Cathy Berg of St. Francis Hospital in Charleston and Tammy Whatley and Brenda Sawyer, who are with Carolina Hospital Systems of Florence. The crew left on May 22 to begin their week-long volunteer effort.
ER
Trauma nurse Stephanie Nolan draws a blood sample from a Kosovar Albanian
woman at the government's medical clinic in Fort Dix, New Jersey. The woman
is among 20,000 refugees being admitted and resettled within the United
States as a result of the Kosvo conflict.
Although Nolan's experience was exciting, it had its effects on the friends and family she left behind, including her husband, Robert and 14-year old daughter, Denise.
"Before my experience, I knew just as much about the war as anyone else," said Nolan referring to television reports and newspapers. "But seeing how it affected these people brought it more into perspective and closer to home."
Nolan served as a nurse and laboratory technician assigned to the medical corps. Once activated, members become temporary Federal employees whose licensure and certification is recognized throughout the United States to support federal aid efforts. In early May, medical teams were assigned to work around the clock to provide medical services. The teams worked with the American Red Cross, FEMA and other volunteer organizations in providing housing, meals, medical services and psychological support to Kosovar refugees.
"It was really tough to see and hear what these people had to go through," said Nolan of the 3,500 refugees which had already settled at the American encampment. "They literally arrived with the clothes on their backs and little else."
Kosovar Albanian men, women and children arrived from Europe aboard chartered jumbo jets. Upon arriving on U.S soil, groups boarded buses that took them to a portion of the base that would support resettlement efforts. Refugees were welcomed and later processed and assigned to makeshift living areas.
As families were settled, they received medical assistance in the camp's former base mess hall. Nolan, along with eight DMAT team members from other states, supported work in the clinic's laboratory. For shifts of 9 to 12 hours, the team drew and analyzed blood from patients, examined urine and other specimens. They also collected blood chemistry samples from patients as part of their physical exams. The camp also provided additional medical support for pharmacy, dental, radiology and immunizations.
The medical exams are part of the government's requirement for health and security inspections. Tests must be completed before an individual achieves official refugee status and is able to live on his own. The process usually takes about three weeks. Designated volunteer agencies would help place those refugees wishing to remain in the states by resettling them in Albanian communities. The government would provide temporary financial support and assistance in finding jobs.
The U.S. government has also agreed to provide transportation asistance to refugees who wish to return back to their homeland when it is safe.
As Nolan began to interact with the ethnic Albanians, she was touched by the stories of survival and shocked at the horrors and atrocities that they were able to describe by themselves or through the help of interpreters.
One dramatic story which affected Nolan and others came from an unexpected visit by a man and his young son. As he approached, the man held up a key for Nolan and others He explained that the key belonged to his house in Kosovo. Saddened and emotional, he stared at the key for a few quiet moments and turned his head toward them, his face in disbelief and puzzlement. "I don't know why I'm holding this key and carrying it around," he said. "My home and everything else is gone."
Nolan spent her free time meeting refugee children. She remembers her curious but surprised reaction when she met some young ethnic Albanian girls whose close-cropped hair and clothing helped safely disguised them in their flight to freedom. She was told stories of how parents disguised their young daughters as boys to protect them from rape and abuse by the Serbian military. Even women, who also feared the Serbian soldiers, camouflaged their appearance by acting and dressing themselves as elderly farm women and laborers.
Hearing these horrifying stories helped resurrect other family ghosts for Nolan that were also brought about by war. Nolan's father, Steve Chomos, endured his own stories of pain and suffering as a soldier with the U.S. Army's 45th Infantry, 179th Regiment, during the European campaign of World War II. For a brief time, Chomos was held captive in a Nazi prisoner of war camp in Germany. Nolan, herself, served briefly as a hospital corpsman with the U.S. Navy before pursuing her career as a nurse.
"The whole experience helped reconfirm my life's work as a nurse," said Nolan. "It made me proud to see that I can help someone and have enough impact to help change someone's life. I felt useful and needed in my skills."
As Nolan resumes her daily duties as a trauma nurse, wife and mother. She can't help but think about the many Kosovar Albanian men, women and children whose lives she has touched and who have in turn have touched hers. She hopes they can have the chance to begin a new life in a country that values freedom and the pursuit of happiness.
The Kosovar Refugee Relocation Program was established to help identify refugees, provide assistance in locating and contacting relatives, coordinate American sponsorship, plus other resettlement support. The U.S. government is working with the group, InterAction, a coalition representing over 160 U.S.-based private relief, development and refugee assistance agencies to coordinate donations and refugee relocation.
For more information, contact InterAction at 1-800-727-4420 or visit their website at <http//www.interaction.org> and click on Kosovo. Other Kosovo relief program information is provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development. They can be accessed on the web at <http//www.info.usaid.gov.>
South Carolina’s Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) was organized to provide direct medical response to local, state and national emergencies involving major transportation accidents, terrorism or natural and technological disasters.
It was founded in the mid-1980s by MUSC’s Thomas Cheng, Ph.D. and the late Dabney Yarbrough III, M.D., director and attending surgeon of MUSC’s burn unit. The team’s efforts were revived and placed into action following the Lowcountry’s recovery from Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
S.C. DMAT is supported by more than 50 physicians, emergency technicians, nurses, respiratory therapists and supply and logistics personnel from around the state. With its current roster of personnel and their expertise, the South Carolina contingency is classified by the U.S. Public Health Service and the National Disaster Medical System as a level three category response team.
For more information on the SC DMAT program contact Denise Saxton, administrative officer, (843) 577-3613 or (843) 856-0180 in Charleston.