PAGE 12 |
October 6, 2017 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
AFL-CIO disaster relief effort deploys
nurses, truckers to Puerto Rico
More than 50 volunteer regis-
tered nurses from across the U.S.
are in Puerto Rico with the Reg-
istered Nurse Response Network
(RNRN). The volunteer nurses
are providing medical aid in the
wake of the ongoing humanitar-
ian crisis following Hurricane
Maria. The most recent contin-
gent of nurses left San Francisco
on Oct. 3.
RNRN is a national network
of volunteer nurses created by
National Nurses United, AFL-
CIO. It recruited the RN team as
part of a multi-union, two-week
disaster relief effort organized by
the national AFL-CIO.
The AFL-CIO is working di-
rectly with the Puerto Rican Fed-
eration of Labor in coordination
with the San Juan mayor’s of-
fice. The labor federation also
has teamed up with the Team-
sters Union to recruit truckers to
travel to Puerto Rico and help
distribute relief supplies. More
than 2,000 Teamsters who live
in Puerto Rico have been af-
fected by the hurricane.
The RNs are focusing on im-
mediate medical needs in local
hospitals, nursing homes, and
other sites based on immediate
need for island residents who
have endured unprecedented
devastation as a result of the su-
perstorm.
Press reports indicate that in
addition to the general poor con-
ditions, hospitals have been
overwhelmed, struggling to
meet medical needs, clinics and
doctor’s offices have failed to re-
open, patients with chronic ill-
nesses have not had access to
needed medications, and con-
cerns are emerging about the po-
tential of cholera and other epi-
demics.
RNRN has more than 12
years of experience in providing
disaster medical aid dating back
to Hurricane Katrina and the
South Asian tsunami. Most re-
cently, volunteers worked in a
convention center in Houston
and other locales in South Texas
after Hurricane Harvey.
To donate to the nurses go to
RNResponseNetwork.org or call
1-800-578-8225; a Teamsters
disaster relief fund has been set
up at tdr.teamster.org.
THIS NEWSPAPER BROUGHT TO YOU BY AMERICA’S LABOR MOVEMENT … AND BY OUR ADVERTISERS.
LET THEM KNOW YOU APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT!