Nursing Professors Take Part in Humanitarian Mission in St. Lucia
While many seasoned travelers plan their trips to the Caribbean around hurricane season, three Estrella Mountain Community College (EMCC) nursing professors decided to make their first trek to the Lesser Antilles right smack dab in the middle of it. They didn’t have much choice. They had to go during the summer semester so it wouldn’t interfere with their fall and spring classes.
This was no ordinary Caribbean vacation, though. The three professors — Dr. Louise Comer, Dr. Amy Johnson, and Kim Norman — decided to use their summer to volunteer with Great Shape! Inc.’s 1000 Smiles Project because of the timing.
So they left the Valley of the Sun for St. Lucia on July 27 just as Hurricane Beryl was wrapping up and Hurricane Debby was beginning to take shape. But they hadn’t packed the usual bathing suits, floppy hats, and sunscreen one might expect to find in suitcases destined for the islands. Instead, their luggage was filled with scrubs and rubber gloves.
“It was an opportunity that fit with our summer break,” Dr. Johnson said. “And the organization, Great Shape! Inc., was familiar to Dr. Comer who had a connection, so it was an easy fit.”
Great Shape! Inc. was formed in 1988 in response to Hurricane Gilbert and facilitates various humanitarian projects in the Caribbean. In 2003, the organization launched 1000 Smiles, the world’s largest, international, humanitarian dental project providing free dental care to thousands of people in Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, The Bahamas, and Turks & Caicos where access to dental care is severely limited. Rural Jamaica, for instance, has just one public dentist for every 100,000 people.
At this point in the story, you may be asking yourself what a group of nurses was doing at a dental clinic. Well, it wasn’t just a dental clinic.
“We were there to support the medical side of the clinic,” Dr. Johnson said. “We are also nurses. So if a patient came in for dental care and had diabetes or high blood pressure, we could assess them, educate them, and refer them for more care.”
But they also supported the dental side with whatever it needed.
“We are all very skilled at safety and infection control, so we supported the clinic in those areas, too,” Dr. Johnson said.
The days were long, the conditions were hot and humid, and the patients outnumbered the volunteers. Every morning, as their shuttle arrived at the clinic, around 40 patients were already in line. The most challenging aspect, Dr. Johnson said, was having to turn away about 20 people a day.
“Some traveled a distance to get to us,” she said. “Knowing their personal challenges to get to the clinic and be turned away was hard.”
Over the course of a week, they screened 540 people. Of those, 27 were identified as having diabetes and nearly 30 had high blood pressure.
“We spent the days screening and teaching along with interacting with the community of St. Lucia,” Dr. Johnson said. “Getting to know them and their culture was by far the most rewarding aspect of the trip. They are kind, patient, and caring. But it was also extremely rewarding to identify these chronic illnesses so they can seek medical care. This will be life-changing for them.”
Apparently, it wasn’t just life-changing for the patients.
When Dr. Johnson left the island on Aug. 3, she was tired and ready for her own bed, her own kitchen, her own bathroom. She missed her family. Neither hurricane had affected the area they were staying in, but she had a pretty good idea that Debby was going to add some time to the return trip. Yet she felt “complete.”
“The experience was amazing!” she said. “We are already talking about the next trip. Maybe spring break. Stay tuned.”