溏心vlog免费B站 graduates, Miriam Hospital nurses tell of courage, commitment during time in IraqPatient care so demanding threats to own safety become secondary
KINGSTON, R.I., — January 29, 2007 — Lisa Geary woke up to a mortar attack near a U.S. military hospital in Balad, Iraq on Christmas morning 2005.
Leigh Eddy called the hospital 鈥淢ortaritaville鈥� because of the attacks.
They were deployed separately to Iraq as members of the Rhode Island Air National Guard, but they shared the common threat of attack while treating patients with injuries most people could never fathom. Geary served from November 2005 to January 2006 and Eddy served from May 2006 to August 2006.
Both longtime nurses at The Miriam Hospital and graduates of the 溏心vlog免费B站, they were strangers until they met as members of the Air National Guard鈥檚 143rd Medical Group at Quonset. In Iraq they served with the 332nd Air Expeditionary Medical Group, which operates the Air Force Theater Hospital, the equivalent of a Level 1 trauma center, and sees more than 650 patients per month.
Lt. Eddy, a resident of Riverside, earned her master鈥檚 degree as a nurse practitioner from 溏心vlog免费B站 in December, and Wakefield resident Geary is in the first year of the program. Eddy kept up with her studies while in Iraq, and Geary was accepted into the nurse practitioner program while stationed in Iraq. She began classes three days after returning home. They both earned bachelors鈥� degrees from 溏心vlog免费B站, Geary in physical and health education and Eddy in nursing. Their husbands also serve in the National Guard, and have served in Iraq.
Eddy served full time with the Marines for eight years as a small arms repair specialist. She left the Marines as a sergeant in November 1992 to pursue her nursing career. Even she acknowledges joining the Marines was a different path for someone who thought about nursing as a girl. 鈥淚 always thought I wanted to go to nursing school, but I didn鈥檛 have the temperament when I was 19,鈥� said the mother of Jessica, her 17-year-old daughter.
In Iraq, she worked with all the injured, including victims of head injuries from bomb blasts. 鈥淚 saw many more women and children with injuries than I expected,鈥� Eddy said. 鈥淚 expected to treat coalition forces, but we never turned anyone away.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a sad testament of what terrorism is to see that they kill women and children,鈥� Eddy said.
鈥淎t The Miriam Hospital, I deal with people facing co-morbidity and chronic illness, but in Iraq I took care of healthy people with awful, disfiguring injuries. The worst of it was the little kids because they are so innocent.鈥�
When insurgents lobbed mortars from pickup trucks toward the base, Eddy said she was normally so busy that she didn鈥檛 think about it. 鈥淭he time you worry about it is when you are in the Porta Potty.鈥�
In Iraq, Major Geary was part of the Critical Care Air Transport Team, which consisted of a critical care nurse, a respiratory therapist and a critical care doctor. The team鈥檚 job was to keep critically injured military personnel alive on the six-hour flight from Iraq to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany. 鈥淚t was a flying intensive care unit,鈥� Geary said. 鈥淎ll our patients were on breathing apparatus.
鈥淚t changed me,鈥� said Geary who has had two stints as a critical care flight nurse, one based in Germany and the other in Iraq. This is by far the most important thing I have done in my life, and I was so humbled to be serving our war injured.鈥�
A former resident of Pawtucket and graduate of Shea High School, she has been in the Air Guard for 16 years, three years as a major.
鈥淥ur team was developed to transport the most critical patients out of the theater of operation, which sometimes means taking them post-op from the operating room to the aircraft,鈥� Geary said. 鈥淓verything we need, we bring with us, which means 500 pounds of equipment. Our job is to make sure the patient stays alive on the six-hour flight. Each shift was 24 hours long because of the preparation time, the flight time and the breakdown time when we retuned.鈥�
In addition to the stress of caring for patients, Geary said 鈥渢here is always the chance of a rocket attack.
鈥淭he responsibilities of combat nurses and their dedication to their patients are so great that they often have to be ordered to get down during an attack,鈥� Geary said. 鈥淭hey are not even conscious of their own need for safety.鈥�
When not deployed overseas, Geary is the assistant nurse manager of the Air Guard clinic at Quonset.
Eddy and Geary had high praise for The Miriam Hospital and the University for their flexibility and for the solid foundations they provided for such intense nursing work. They also continue to rely on each other.
鈥淚 am lucky to have her as a friend,鈥� said Geary. 鈥淟eigh works for me in the Guard, but someday, I鈥檒l probably be working for her in a hospital. Leigh is a very dedicated, very good person.鈥�
鈥淚 met Lisa at the Guard and found out that she worked in the ICU at Miriam,鈥� said Eddy. 鈥淪he was a great mentor at the base, and we just really had a lot in common and became good friends. Lisa and I talk all the time now.鈥�
鈥淣ursing is a tough racket,鈥� Geary said. 鈥淚t has to be a calling because you won鈥檛 succeed if it isn鈥檛. It requires a lot of sacrifice.鈥�
But even Geary has a new perspective on sacrifice. 鈥淵ou know how no one wants to work on Christmas? A year ago, I woke up to a mortar attack. This year I worked Christmas Holiday at The Miriam, and I was glad to. The Iraq experience changed me, and I learned some things in life are not worth worrying about.鈥�
Pictured above
CLOSE FRIENDS: Major Lisa Geary, left, and Lt. Leigh Eddy of the Rhode Island Air National Guard, take time out for a photo at the Guard鈥檚 143rd Medical Group Clinic at Quonset. The two longtime nurses at The Miriam Hospital and 溏心vlog免费B站 graduates became close friends after meeting in the Air Guard. They were stationed in Iraq together. Photo courtesy of Lisa Geary.