In the gut-wrenching aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Maryland was one of the first states to respond. “When things were the bleakest here and we were looking for some sort of relief…you were a lighthouse on a dark shore,” the president of devastated Jefferson Parish, La., told Governor Ehrlich.

Ehrlich’s relief included more than 200 medical professionals, deployed in waves to the storm-torn parish. Among them was a team of 13 Hopkins physicians, nurses, pharmacists and mental health experts, hand-picked by the Office of Critical Event Preparedness.

Veteran JHH emergency nurse Michelle Whitfield was tapped to be nurse leader of the team, which included fellow emergency nurse Paula Murphy, Wilmer nurse Lauren Baker and others from Bayview, Howard County General and JH Home Care. They lifted off from Martin State Airport on Labor Day. Once in Jefferson Parish, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans, Maryland’s task force split into six teams.

Team Echo, the Hopkins group, transformed the Westwego Elementary School cafeteria into an emergency clinic. The abandoned Meadowcrest Hospital became their “hotel.” “It was post-apocalyptic,” recalls Murphy.

After disinfecting the looted hospital, the team used supplies from well-stocked storerooms to build the clinic. They borrowed materials from the CEO’s office to make signs, staff badges and ID bracelets. Police-escorted ambulances brought them to and from 14-hour work days.

Within the first week, Team Echo was treating an average of 150 patients a day. The clinic was full service, from registration to discharge and even quality improvement. Murphy ran triage; Whitfield served as charge nurse. There were areas for counseling, immunizations, military meals and a pharmacy. Armed guards stood watch outside.

As they dressed wounds, gave prenatal care and treated hypertension and diabetes, the nurses began to realize that an ear was their most vital offering. “People were fragile,” says Murphy. “They were brimming with tales of heroism, sadness, frustration and gratitude.”

The community, in turn, showered Team Echo with appreciation. Yet even in their darkest hour, the residents were hesitant to accept handouts. “One little girl gave back a Band-aid, saying it should be saved for someone who really needed it,” says Whitfield.

Each evening, the team met to assess quality and suggest improvements. On Sept. 11, they gathered for a moment of silence. By the time the next group (including JHH nurses Shawn Brast, Sharon Carletti, Marybeth Pule and Karen Ball) came to relieve them on Sept. 17, Team Echo was like a family.

Murphy wishes the spotlight would fall instead on the nurses who covered shifts in the team’s absence. “We’re nothing special,” she says, “just the ones who happened to go.”

-From Hopkins Nurse, Fall 2005

PHOTO: Emergency nurses Michelle Whitfield, left, and Paula Murphy were part of Hopkins’ second wave of medical relief deployed to a Katrina-ravaged community.