As refugees fled Afghanistan and hoped to start their new lives in the United States, thousands arrived at Camp Atterbury in southern Johnson County in need of help.
That included basic medical care.
For area medical workers, it was an opportunity to use their talents in helping displaced people with a myriad of health issues.
“We have a mission, and we have so much abundance here in this country. Certainly, we have the ability to share with other people, and the ability to do more for other people,” said Angela Bratina, administrator for the women and children department at Franciscan Health Indianapolis.
Among those who offered their services were a group of six Franciscan Health Indianapolis registered nurses who assisted by administering vaccines, providing basic checkups and answering health questions for refugees arriving at Atterbury. Over the course of nine hours, they met with men, women and children who had fled Taliban rule and were preparing for new lives.
The experience helped reinforce the ideals that Franciscan Health instills in its staff, in addition to serving as an eye-opening chance to see the fierce determination of the human spirit.
“I expected to walk in and see so much devastation — these people had come from another country and they didn’t know what was going on and their whole life had turned upside down,” said Lori Kraeszig, a registered nurse unit manager in the neonatal intensive care and pediatric specialty care units at Franciscan Health Indianapolis. “But they were all extremely nice and seemed to be in good spirits. Listening to some of these stories really made you feel blessed for what we have here.”
Franciscan Health Indianapolis first became involved in caring for the refugees shortly after the first Afghans arrived in central Indiana. A few patients needed medical care at the hospital, and in treating them, staff had difficulty tracking down medical records to best manage their care.
They reached out to Dr. Kristina Box, state health commissioner, to figure out ways to make care of these patients more efficient. In their conversations, it became clear that care was also needed to treat families at Atterbury.
“The Navy was down there providing medical care, but they could use some help,” Bratina said. “We were looking for some equipment and other things to help the state department of health, but they also asked if we could find some people to go.”
Franciscan Health was eager to help, but they faced a challenge: with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, officials were hesitant to take nursing staff away from the hospital.
Instead, Bratina asked management if she could gather a team of educators, clinical nurse specialists and managers from the women and children department to help at Atterbury.
“We had an opportunity to clear our schedule for a couple of days and go down and help,” Bratina said.
Mobilization was rapid. The assembled team — Bratina and Kraeszig, along with Christine Hunkele, Ashley Hensley, Stephanie Lee and Jennifer Naessens — gathered limited items such as stethoscopes, masks and other personal protective equipment, and arrived Sept. 10 at the military base.
Part of their initial work was helping the military personnel set up an effective examination area, Kraeszig said.
“We walked into basically an empty tent with chairs, so we helped get that all arranged to move people through,” Kraeszig said.
The Franciscan Health Indianapolis team spent about 10 hours meeting with families. They administered vaccines for diseases such as measles, tetanus and diphtheria.
Many of the patients needed basic medical exams, and health care workers helped answer questions and provided information about care that is available to them.
Much of the military staff worked primarily in pediatrics, so many wore funny headgear of accessories to make the refugees smile.
“A lot of them were wearing Mickey Mouse ears or unicorn hats, just to help the kids feel a little more comfortable. They probably thought they were crazy, but it was nice,” Bratina said.
Many of the refugees were those with business or security backgrounds who had worked with the United States during its time in Afghanistan. They had already prepared for the possibility of immigrating, as many had started the visa process before having to flee the Taliban, she said.
One family told Bratina they had given their daughter a Western name in preparation for the move.
“They figured at some point in her life, she’d leave Afghanistan,” she said. “That was something that never occurred to me as an American, that they’d have planned very, very far in advance what their future would be and what they were going to do.”
Despite the tumultuous experience of the past few weeks, and the long waits they endured to see a care provider, the patients were grateful for the help they received.
“All of the people who seemed to be on base were very calm, very patient,” Bratina said. “We even made a comment that for people here, would there be that kind of calm in waiting in line, waiting their turn.”
At the end of the day, the Franciscan Health team left their names and numbers, in case additional assistance was needed in the coming weeks and months.
They’d be back if called upon, Bratina said.
“There’s still a huge need for vaccine help, to do some additional work there,” she said. “It was pretty intense, pretty busy, and a constant churn to get people taken care of as fast as they can to get them off to the next part of their lives.”
