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After the storm: Caring for Katrina’s survivors
“The true heroes are the refugees,”says one OSU alumni physician caring for hurricane Katrina’s victims in Louisiana. It is a feeling that is shared by OSU faculty, staff, alumni and students caring for evacuees. They applaud the resilient spirit of these homeless, storm-battered survivors.
OSU Physicians and nurses volunteer to help more than 1,300 Katrina evacuees
at the Camp Gruber
medical clinic.
Pictured are Peggy Howe, Dr. Chris Lee '02,
Dr. Trudy Milner '88, Dr. Kayse Shrum '98,
JoAnn Lee and Barbara Grogg.
At Camp Gruber near Muskogee, OSU personnel are helping with medical attention for cuts, scrapes, diarrhea, stress and other ailments. JoAnn Lee, R.N., has spent this week at Camp Gruber, along with Peggy Bernard-Howe, R.N. and others. “These people are exhausted. They appreciate everything and it is so gratifying to see them smile,” Lee says. “They want to be heard, and we listen. It is amazing what they have come through; still, they can smile.”
But there is a very special kind of caring, too; the kind that helps heal the spirit. Volunteers found time Wednesday to arrange a surprise birthday party for two of the youngest storm victims, six-year-old twin girls.
“The party was the least we can do for these siblings who have gone through so much,” says Dr. Kayse Shrum, co-medical director at Camp Gruber. Shrum, along with a dozen OSU physician and nurse volunteers, has been working at the camp clinic since the first busload of Katrina refugees arrived.
Shrum says the celebration is bittersweet because countless children have been separated from their parents and are in need of basic health care and hygiene. A baby born three days earlier outside the superdome just received his first medical checkup from an Oklahoma doctor. “We’ve heard absolutely amazing stories about what these people have gone through. Despite the devastation on their faces, they are truly thankful to finally be getting help.”
Volunteer doctors have seen more than 600 patients . A major problem is the lack of daily medication for evacuees who fled with just the clothes on their back. Prescriptions for cardiac problems, HIV/AIDS and mental health issues are being filled quickly at the local Wal Mart.
OSU medical school alumni and students, in conjunction with other physicians and volunteers, spent Labor Day weekend helping at the Red Cross Relief Center at Crosstown Church of Christ in Tulsa. MS II Kathleen Murray says medical students helped fill out medical intake forms and made phone calls while physicians examined and interviewed evacuees in efforts to get them needed health care and medicine. The OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine Alumni Association has voted to financially aid a future student project that is hurricane related.
OSU physician alumni Art Wallace, D.O., ’77 and Greg Gray, D.O., ’89, were among the first to arrive in Louisiana the day after the storm as part of the Oklahoma Disaster Medical Assistance Team. Wallace is director of emergency medicine at TRMC. Gray is emergency medicine physician at St. Francis Hospital in Broken Arrow. His recent emails describe departing in a hurry from pre-staging in Houston, trying to beat hurricane Katrina to Louisiana:
We made it as far as Baton Rouge. Our first night was used helping a special needs shelter at the Louisiana State University (LSU) field house.” The next day, the team headed for the Superdome. A mobile hospital was set up in a basketball arena on Monday evening (Aug. 29) and we had started seeing patients when the levee broke. The hospital eventually was under water. Personnel returned to LSU Tuesday, moving to urgent care and needs assessment at Thibodaux, La.
We see a lot of foot injuries from walking bare-foot, and are seeing a lot of respiratory ailments. The true heroes are the refugees. They are happy to see us and hug us. They have hearts of gold, even after all of this.
Gray reports seeing up to 175 patients a day at Nicholls State University's College of Nursing, where a team is working the urgent care / mini emergency room. Gray says, “They all love a smile and a handshake. Most want a hug. They need to know that they are not alone and that they will not be forgotten in two or three weeks.”
OSU Pride Works
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Ryan Miller, assistant director of alumni affairs, heads up the medical school’s alumni association
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“I like the smell of the OSU business building. It just smells like college to me,” says Ryan Miller, assistant director of the alumni association for the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine, reminiscing about his alma mater.
Edmon Low library doesn’t hold the same olfactory charm, maybe because it is where he napped between classes. “I’d book it to the library,” he says, no pun intended. He’d sit in his favorite lounge chair, tucked under a south-facing window next to an air vent. “I’d put my backpack between my feet, lean back and sleep for 45 minutes.”
He earned his degree in marketing and advertising in 2000, and joined OSU in 2001. Today, Miller’s enthusiasm for OSU sparks College alumni association activities.
In his down-to-earth style, Miller intends to “get ‘er done.” His focus is on making personal visits to get to know physician alumni. “I want to see what they are about, what’s going on, what their concerns are. I’ll bring that back and see how the College can help make them feel like a part of the OSU family. “
“I want to unify the alumni and help them understand the College’s story,” Miller says. His goals are solid. He wants teamwork. He wants to encourage pride in the College. He wants to target communications, and get more doctors to help out with residency programs, mentoring students, and offering job shadowing.
He says OSU gave him a great education, a professional edge and lasting friendships. “It has given me an OSU “family.” It’s so cool because now I get to interact with OSU every day. It is a priority in my life.”
Miller, who doesn’t do anything by half-measure, doesn’t think today’s students should, either. Here’s his advice: “Slow down and enjoy college. Do your studies. Take a break and go hang out. Do as much as you can. Join clubs, go to games, and experience it all.” (Did he say “slow down”?).
If students follow Miller’s example they could end up like he did, on ESPN’s televised basketball coverage. Not once but twice, wearing a big fuzzy wig and a face painted orange.
Smells like OSU pride.
Image Guide debuts
| Q. |
Can I put glasses on Pistol Pete? |
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Is it ok to combine two OSU logos? |
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What color is OSU orange, anyway? |
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No, no and Pantone 166 C. |
Branding, marketing, image. They aren’t just buzzwords. Proper use of graphics and images is an important part of our overall OSU message. If you have questions about proper use of OSU images, graphics, letterhead, logos, you’ll find answers in the new image guide on Centernet.
It’s easy to find online. Just go to Centernet’s left hand index, then click on Image Guide. There you will find examples and images in an easy to understand format. You’ll be doing the right thing with your graphics in no time.
Day of Caring today
 CHS Day of Caring today provides manicures, conversations, lunch and bingo for nearly 50 guests from Reaching Hands. Also, CHS is working today at Girl Scouts of Magic Empire Council’s troop house, where workers are clearing brush, cleaning trails, chopping weeds, restacking wood, cleaning up, picking up trash and planting flowers. Thanks to coordinators Jan Barber and Debbie Martin for organizing volunteers and events for this special day. And a BIG thanks you to all volunteers.
Research Day Sept. 16
The Ninth Annual Research Day is from 1-4:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16, in D-107. Faculty, students and staff present posters, with viewings scheduled through the afternoon. Awards are given for best graduate and best medical student presentation. Second year medical students Matt Hoffman and Amanda Matzke, Auxiliary to the Oklahoma Osteopathic Association research fellowship recipients, will present their research.
Round of Applause
Top jailbird (AND he can wear horizontal stripes!)
Even more impressive, Dr. William Pettit raised $1,862.58 and was among eight “top jailbirds” as part of MDA Lock-up for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Funds are used to provide services such as free clinics, support groups, therapy research and summer camps. The sweet sounds of the “victory dinger” rang for Dr. Pettit, in congratulations for a job well done.
Assistant librarian David Money received a letter of thanks from National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Thomas Wesley Allen, D.O. serves as an expert consultant to the NFL Committee on Cardiovascular Health. Money assisted Dr. Allen in his research for this committee.
Lisa Mitchell, senior administrative assistant in IRB/Research,was recently elected to the executive board of Living Arts of Tulsa, Oklahoma's oldest nonprofit organization promoting contemporary art. She serves as media chair of the Living with Art in the Garden tour committee.
Dr. Kenneth Miller will speak at the Oklahoma Center for Neuroscience 14 th annual symposium in Oklahoma City Oct. 12. His topic is "The Response of Astrocytes to Spinal Injury and Methylprednisolone Treatment." The event brings together outstanding clinicians and basic scientists to exchange information, generate new ideas and cooperative research projects. Miller also spoke at the BioLife Science Symposium’s first conference focused on the state’s bio-industry sector, on Sept. 13. His topic was “ Developing Novel Analgesics for Chronic Pain.”
Grant Awarded
“HIV/Cocaine Neurotoxicity in Females,” submitted to NIH/NIDA. Total costs $265,900 for period 2005-2010. Subcontract through Dr. Rosemarie Booze at University of South Carolina - Dr. David Wallace.
Abstract Published
“A Brief History of the Visual prosthesis,” Journal of the History of Neuroscience: Basic and Clinical Perspective, 2005 - Dr. Warren Finn.
Reviews
Reviewed papers for Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science and Journal of Neuroscience - Dr. Craig Stevens.
Reviewed manuscripts for Neuroscience, Synapse, Journal of Neuroscience and Journal of Neurochemistry - Dr. David Wallace.
Publications
“The effect of insulin deficiency in tau and neurofilament in the insulin knockout mouse.” Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 334:979-986, 2005 - Drs. Ken Miller, Ruben Schechter and Delia Beju.
Published monograms in “Encyclopedia of Toxicology” 2nd Edition, (C. Pope, editor),); “Acetamiprid” Volume 1, pages 23-24; “Dibutyl Phthalate” Volume 2, pages 1-2; “Phosgene Oxime” Volume 3, page 410;“Quinoline” Volume 3, pages 596-597; “Sodium Fluoroacetate” Volume 4, pages 62-63. “Toxaphene” Volume 4, pages 207-209; and “Trifluralin” Volume 4, page 388. - Dr. David R Wallace.
In collaboration with a peptide chemist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, published eighth paper in a series exploring the MCD peptide – IgE receptor system - Dr. Joseph Price.
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Red Cross Blood Drive
David Barron donates blood during Staff Advisory Council’s blood drive August 31. Participants received a Pistol Pete t-shirt
and a chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree.
Theresa Parks (with Judi Muskrat,
phlebotomist) gets ready to give blood.
Randall Davis, Ph.D.
(with phlebotomist
Christina Potts)
gives his share.
Donating blood doesn’t keep Kathryn Zachery, MS II, from her studies.
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