In the wake of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit Pakistan Oct. 8, one WSU grad is working to help the thousands in need of medical care.
(Photo above: WSU nursing graduate and 2nd Lt. JoAnn LeDoux helps a child impacted by Pakistan earthquake.)
JoAnn LeDoux, a WSU Intercollegiate Nursing school graduate, is serving as an Army nurse in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan to aid in earthquake relief.
Experienced in transcultural nursing, which her service in a Thailand orphanage for her honor’s thesis provided her, the Pakistan adventure has been both familiar and newly challenging.
“Many of the patients here do not speak English, as it was in Thailand. I have learned a little Erdu , but a lot of our communication is hand signs, demonstration and pure laughter,” LeDoux said.
With an estimated death toll of 100,000, thousands more injured and the threat of rapidly approaching cold weather, the needs are great but the resources are few.
In a recent e-mail to Phyllis Eide, assistant professor at ICN and LeDoux’s honor’s thesis supervisor, LeDoux described the dire conditions of the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital she is serving at in the Himalayan Mountains.
(Photo above: Buildings demolished in Pakistan.)
“We have little for supplies and even less for our pediatric patients,” LeDoux said. “Yesterday our Operating Room made a make shift colostomy that empties into a Ziploc bag.
“While this is a great experience, we are in lock down and can’t leave our compound. We basically work 12 hour shifts everyday and sleep,” LeDoux said.
Help is needed
To aid in medical relief efforts, ICN has sent five boxes of supplies to LeDoux and intends to send more. Requested supplies include:
-children’s clothing
-travel sized hygiene products
-blankets
-bristled hairbrushes
-toys
-canned goods
-garbage and grocery bags
(Photo above: 2nd Lt. JoAnn LeDoux, left, and fellow nurse, helping child.)
All items may be sent to:
212th MASH
C/o Military Disaster Center
Unit 62200
Box 26
APO, AE
09812-2200
For more information contact Phyllis Eide at 509-324-7246.
(Above: U.S. military MASH unit helping in Pakistan.)
(Above: Local citizens wait in line outside a U.S. triage tent for medical help.)
