SUPPORTING NATIONAL YOUTH CONFERENCE
by Corazon Zamora RN
On November 20-23, 1997, the National Catholic Youth Conference was held at Bartle Hall in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Twenty thousand and two hundred Catholic high school youths, ranging from 14-18 years old, attended the conference. They came from different parts of the country with a collective purpose : to enrich their religious beliefs, reach out to other catholic youths, build communities, or just to enjoy the gathering. So when Mary Cowalski, chairperson of the National Youth Conference, desperately asked for nurses volunteers, PNAGKC could not deny their request. After attending an hour and a half pre-conference training, Marilyn Moyo and I, helped staff their first aid station and emergency clinic. On the first day, there was only one first aid station .There was a huge crowd of patients and several had no place to sit or lie down. To accommodate this great demand, a second first aid station was opened the following day. The common ailments we treated were headaches, dehydration, nausea and vomiting, fainting spells, nose bleeds, minor cuts, hyperventilation, or a simple case of homesickness which we successfully treated with a suggested " PRN phone calls to the loved ones." We spent two nights at the Holiday Inn, as nursing on call resources for the attendees who retired there for the evening. Luckily we did not deal with any accident or injury! As a novice volunteer for a national conference , I found the experience over-whelming . But overall, it was enriching and fulfilling. |
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