A team of nine public health nurses and two administrative staff members from Kentucky is in North Carolina this week assisting with the care of Hurricane Florence affected citizens.
The team is expected to be there for about two weeks. Kentucky Public Health Commissioner Jeff Howard says many of the thousands living in shelters have ongoing medical issues. “A lot of these patients will have chronic medical conditions and will need access to medications. And, so a lot of times what they will be doing is doing a history and medical exam, finding out what ailments these patients have and assuring they have the medications they need during this time,” said Howard.
Howard says it’s an extremely stressful time for residents staying in communal living conditions. “Our nurses have been trained for that eventuality and stand ready to provide both mental health assistance and medical assistance in the scope of their training,” noted Howard.
Howard says Kentucky has also offered assistance through environmental and epidemiology strike teams. He says those members would focus on everything from clean water to disease control and prevention.?
