San Diego Nurses Care For COVID Patients By Day, Protesters By Night

Speaker 1: 00:00 Coronavirus has reminded the world about the crucial role of health coworkers, especially nurses, KPBS, health reporter, Taren, Mentos as another crisis outside hospitals is again calling those professionals to the front lines. Did you assemble a team of registered nurses prepared for their jobs on a weekday afternoon by assembling the new gas masks, they ordered online critical care nurse. Christina Kelly helped her colleagues attach the magenta filters directly like that. The respirators are part of their toolkit, not for the hospital, but the streets. The group has become a regular Speaker 2: 00:34 Presence at ongoing protests over racial injustice and works with stream Mendix to provide licensed care. So they'll radio or text us. If there's somebody in the crowd that needs assistance. Kelly who holds a doctorate in nursing practice launched the volunteer task force to ensure everyone kind of access to aid as a nurse, we can't just take care of people Speaker 3: 00:52 Well that are in the hospital. We're also responsible for the communities that we serve. The population that live within the communities that we serve. Speaker 1: 00:59 Kelly saw the need firsthand Speaker 2: 01:00 Back in late, may she attended a downtown San Diego protest against police brutality to watch what was going on protestors brand. When police used flash bangs, pepper, spray, and rubber bullets to disperse crowds, and Kelly was concerned as a medical responder. I just saw all of these hazards. Speaker 3: 01:18 Like people could trip, they could fall. I saw head traumas. We didn't actually see head traumas, but you can see that in the makeup, Speaker 2: 01:24 She feared the sheer size of the crowds and the road closures meant emergency response teams couldn't reach them if they were in need. She rallied her colleagues to put licensed professionals on the ground at as many demonstrations that they knew about. You're now invited directly organizers who are often in their teens and twenties. They started seeking Speaker 1: 01:44 Can us out when they would see us there so far, medically Kelly says injuries have been minimal hydration. Speaker 3: 01:49 It's been exhaustion. It's been sun exposure, heat exhaustion. Um, so where we've had to give water, we've seen a bike falls because there are some demonstrators that are on bikes and skateboards, Speaker 1: 02:01 Distributed masks and hand sanitizer to keep people safe during the pandemic. But their backpacks are prepared for any situation with the supplies that they provide themselves. Ponchos, bandaids, steri strips, Kelly notified her employer and the sand legal chief of police about the role they'd serve the American nurses association, California chapter endorsed the task force and used Kelly's letter as a template for nurses across the country. Speaker 3: 02:28 So that any other nursing task force that wants to write a letter to their local chief of police, to let them know of their intentions, to be present at demonstration, that they have a platform to do. So Speaker 1: 02:38 Of course, member Laura Chatroll says they don't only walk behind demonstrators to provide care, but to support the fight against racism. The American nursing association code of ethics says nurses have an obligation to social justice to reduce health disparities. Speaker 3: 02:52 Our voice is valued by people. You know, when you say you're a nurse, people sort of listen to what you have to say and you know, you need to get out there and you need to speak up for what's right. And what's appropriate. Speaker 1: 03:03 A recent demonstration in city Heights include a task force member. Nicole Ward's own daughter. Speaker 3: 03:08 You know, as a mama bear is better when she's wearing her mama. Then out here by herself, Speaker 1: 03:12 19 year old Keira award says her reason for marching is simple. Speaker 3: 03:16 I'm a cost player. So I get a lot of hate because of my skin color. So I often get called in inward a lot, and I want to protest because I feel like I have a right to just exist without being hated on it. Speaker 2: 03:31 Demonstrators have marched against that kind of injustice for weeks in San Diego, an early June protest drew thousands that filled streets on an hours, long Trek through the city, a KPBS report, it was live streaming the event online when a young woman collapsed regarding emergency here, Speaker 1: 03:50 Question and see if people made it difficult for emergency responders to reach her Kelly and the task force were there and rushed in Speaker 1: 04:01 KPBS news. They're about to help her up. Joining me now is KPB has health reporter at mento tern. Thanks for joining us. Thanks Allison. So now these nurses are really rising above the call of duty. Aren't they? I mean, nurses typically have very long shifts. What did they tell you motivated them to take on extra nursing duties? You know, if you ask them, they would say, well, this is part of their duties. According to the American nursing association code of ethics, which is the professional organization for nurses, they have an obligation to social justice, especially because it affects, as I said in the story affects health disparities. And so their duty is to the public overall, not just individuals that come into the hospital and need cared there that way. So they would say this is part of what they're supposed to do, caring and standing up for, um, for, for social justice and community health. Speaker 1: 04:53 However, they're doing it all in their own time, right? It's all pro bono. Correct. And they, uh, obviously we know a lot of, uh, health care workers are attending to the needs because of the pandemic. Most of them are doing that as well at their jobs. Some of them are also crossing the border, um, as volunteer healthcare workers for down in Tijuana and Mexicali, like where we know, um, there is, uh, you know, far, far larger volume of cases down there, um, tending to the coronavirus pandemic down there. So they're already, um, taking on an additional volunteer duty with that and then adding this one as well. Um, so they are really, really, um, you know, just having a commitment to the community. So how many of them are there now? I mean, how big is the group? Are they able to cover demonstrations all over San Diego County, as well as South of the border? Speaker 1: 05:42 They're not necessarily following demonstrations down there, but they are balancing the need to support their colleagues down there, um, with addressing the pandemic. But they there's about 10 to 15 of them that are part of this task force. Going out to these demonstrations. There's usually about, I'd say anywhere from like five to six together, um, at each demonstration that they can get to. So there's 10 to 15 of them that are very, very active there's others that maybe aren't able to be on the ground with them, but also support them with providing additional supplies. Cause they do, they cover all of their own supplies and resources themselves. They're doing their best to get to where they think is the most need. And they have that direct communication with organizers. So organizers reach out to them and they'll probably talk about where they are their best utilize. Speaker 1: 06:29 Do they have a name? I mean, how can fellow marchers identify them? So they are the American nursing association, California, San Diego, regional task force, or a, and a C San Diego regional task force for short, they received endorsement. They actually sought out endorsement from the American nursing association, California, and they got that endorsement, but do they have t-shirts or how would somebody know that that's who they are? They always maintain the same location in a demonstrations. They're always in the back. So that way they can run to the front, if they're needed, they're communicating with other medic street, medics in the crowd and communicating with organizers where they will be radioed or text and they will respond to what's needed, but they wear scrubs. They wear arm bands that have the, the red cross on it. And then they also had stickers one time when we were out there that said, first aid, large stickers all over, what, what kind of kit do they carry with them? Speaker 1: 07:28 A lot of things, um, you know, bandaids and saline wash, um, for, you know, scrapes and bumps and bruises. And they have, you know, one of the things that she carried was an albuterol inhaler and extra, and the other all inhaler, just in case somebody needed it. They carry water, they have sunscreen, they have stuff to make tourniquets and they have suture kits. If things ever really got incredibly serious, but they have, uh, she even also had binoculars in her, um, Christina Kelly to critical care nurse that, um, helped launch this whole task force. She had binoculars, so she could see far into the crowd, um, to kind of keep an eye on things. And they also had Camelbaks. So they themselves were hydrated, um, because one, a lot of the injuries or needs that they saw have been dehydration and exhaustion and they also have water to hand out. Um, and then they also, because we're in a pandemic, they have masks, uh, at the ready to distribute to people that they don't see wearing mask. They have ham hand sanitizer also to give to people to make sure they're safe. And, and Christina Kelly as said that they've, they've distributed hundred. She estimated of math. Well, thank you very much for your story Taren. It's nice to have a good news story. Thanks, Alison, we've been speaking with KPBS health reporter Taryn mento.