Public Health Services leaves their mark on hurricane relief efforts

After Irma’s sweep over Florida and Maria finally leaving the Caribbean, the aftermath of both hurricanes has left both in shambles. Puerto Rico is without power, and most of Florida remains stuck in hurricane shelters. Many are left homeless after Maria, and with most of Puerto Rico left in debris as painful reminders of the hurricane, Public Health Services Officers have been deployed to help mend and put them back together.

Lieutenant Commander James Chaney was deployed to both Florida and Puerto Rico, where he and other PHS officers were there to provide medical care to those evacuated from flooding areas.

“It was like being in a movie where tens of thousands of people were being moved from their homes into one centralized location,” Chaney said. “It was hard to fathom that most people we were seeing had little to no resources, and what they did have was swept away by the flood.”

3.4 million people were left without power, water and food after the disaster, and with poor communication services, the death toll of a mere 16 is expected to raise two weeks after it reached the island. PHS was one of the first responders, and set up a 250-bed field medical hospital to provide medical care to those in need.

Chaney wasn’t the only one that was deployed. He was attached to RD-5, a team that consisted of 80-officers of different disciplines, and one of which was another officer with the same rank, Lieutenant Commander Raquel Coleman. She was sent to both Florida and Puerto Rico a week after both storms were gone.

“The media coverage was accurate, especially on the urgency of the situation, but it wasn’t that specific,” said Coleman on Irma’s destruction of Florida. “They had us in a non-flooded area taking care of people that were being evacuated.”

While Maria devastated most of Puerto Rico, Irma was a massive storm that covered the entire state of Florida and left destruction in its path through the Caribbean. It left the Keys in shambles, many without power and cell service, and most of the roads blocked and empty from flooding and evacuations.

PHS has given more than enough relief to Florida, which shifts the focus to Puerto Rico. While more teams prepare for deployment to Puerto Rico, they’re expecting relief efforts to lift the weight of the injured off of the island’s shoulders. Colonel Malissa-Jose Contreras comes from Puerto Rico, and has already noticed their tremendous efforts to help put it back together.

“I feel like the work we’ve put into Florida and Puerto Rico have been a tremendous help to residents without power and homes,” Contreras said. “We’ve sheltered nearly 275 oxygen dependent patients that wouldn’t have survived 6 hours let alone 14-21 days without our intervention.”

PHS is expected to stay in Puerto Rico for nearly a month, and are finally starting to leave a healing Florida.