Kaiser Permanente San Jose, Sacramento caregivers head for typhoon disaster

Caregivers depart as KP pledges $1-mil to typhoon recovery

                Chris Gonzales, a Kaiser Permanente San Jose Emergency Department nurse, said he literally felt a tugging sensation when he saw the first pictures of the Philippine devastation from Typhoon Haiyan.

                “My family is from the hardest-hit area and I believe some of my relatives are still missing,” said Gonzales, waiting to board a jet for the Philippines Monday evening, November 25. “I knew immediately I was going.”

                At first, Gonzales says he called a number of international aid groups offering to volunteer, but it turned out he really didn’t have far to look.  He was picked for the rapidly expanding Kaiser Permanente medical relief efforts in the City of Tacloban, capital of the Philippine Leyte province and nearby Carigara.  Gonzales is not a stranger to the devastation he expects to face.

                “I was in Haiti the week after the earthquake (in 2010),” he said, while sifting through a duffel of medical supplies at San Francisco International Airport. “It was the best, and the worst of experiences.”

                This time, Gonzales and his life partner Roger Spinti, who live in San Jose, will be traveling together, and they have no illusions about what they will see and experience in the Philippines. News reports indicate 2,000 bodies have been recovered in Tacloban alone, and it is estimated more than 12,000 of the survivors are suffering from minor-to-major injuries and diseases.

                “Apocalyptic” was the word Gonzales used to express what he expects to see.

                The Kaiser Permanente medical teams are volunteering with Relief International, an American-based non-profit that responds to international disasters and also provides long-term recovery efforts. The team that left San Francisco International Monday night included Gonzales, his partner, and two other Kaiser Permanente nurses.

                Roberto Barros, an Emergency Department nurse from the KP South Sacramento Medical Center, was fishing off the Golden Gate on his day off when he got the call to deploy. He made it to the airport in time. Dennis Tolentino is an ED nurse and anesthesiologist from Kaiser Permanente’s Sacramento and Roseville hospitals.

                “That our team needs an anesthesiologist is a sign of Kaiser Permanente’s growing medical role in the disaster zone,” said Dr. Joshua Weil, Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa, who is coordinating the deployment from the Bay Area.

                Today, Kaiser Permanente pledged $1-million for Philippine relief and recovery. Little is left of the City of Tacloban, where KP has established a clinic. Conditions are slightly better in Carigara, where Kaiser Permanente is operating out of a hospital. More KP doctors and nurses will be going there in coming weeks, but all have been urged to bring personal tents to live in.