Two weeks after Hurricane Melissa made landfall over New Hope, Jamaica, on Oct. 28, nurse and The Centerville Café co-owner Lisa Little was on the ground as part of Heart to Heart International’s emergency medical team.
“This was probably one of the worst I’ve seen in terms of devastation,” Little said of her 15 years volunteering on overseas disaster response missions.
A catastrophic Category 5 storm, Hurricane Melissa reached a record-breaking wind speed of 185 mph and caused widespread damage, hospital evacuations and flooding across the Caribbean.
At the request of the Jamaican Ministry of Health, Kansas-based nonprofit Heart to Heart International deployed its emergency medical team to the island in early November. The organization has been responding to hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes, wildfires, earthquakes and humanitarian and health crises around the world since 1992.
Little has deployed with Heart to Heart International five times since 2012. She has been volunteering on overseas disaster response missions since the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
“Being able to just help people and be there when they’ve lost everything or they’re just having a really tough time, it’s really rewarding to be able to go and just give people the respect that you would want if you were in the same situation,” Little said.
Little has over 20 years of nursing experience, including work at the Lewis County Jail, the Northwest Pediatrics Center and the Chehalis Tribe. She currently works with the Washington State Healthcare Authority and co-owns The Centerville Café in downtown Centralia with her wife, Michelle. She also recently earned her real estate license.
Little’s experience in the nursing field and in disaster response landed her a spot in Heart to Heart International’s first wave of responders to Jamaica, which is responsible for setting up the organization's clinic locations.
One of the clinic spots was still flooded with 2 feet of water when the team arrived.
“Me and a couple other people who were medical providers actually got in there and just started cleaning it up,” Little said. “We were able to use it — part of it, at least.”
The emergency medical team saw nearly 400 patients during its first week in Jamaica, dispersing medications, providing wound care and general medical support, as well as compassionate care.
“We’re usually the only people they’ve talked to, other than their neighbors who’ve all gone through the same thing,” Little said. “People to listen to them just talk about what’s happened and how it’s affected them, that really goes a long way.”
Many of the patients seen by Heart to Heart International’s emergency medical team hadn’t had access to a doctor since Hurricane Melissa hit. Many needed refills to medications that had been washed away. Some had intense medical needs and severe wounds that needed to be treated.
Compared to her previous disaster response deployments, Little said, “It was probably one of the harder ones I’ve been on.”
Other organizations such as the World Central Kitchen responded alongside Heart to Heart International to provide food and water and help with other basic needs.
“Those needs were being met before we were there, but medical is definitely the next thing,” Little said.
Little spent 15 days in Jamaica before returning to Washington late last month.
Her first-wave team was replaced by Heart to Heart International’s second-wave team, which is still providing medical aid and hygiene kits to those affected by Hurricane Melissa.
For more information on Heart to Heart International’s operation in Jamaica, visit https://www.hearttoheart.org/hurricane-melissa-response/ or https://www.facebook.com/heart.to.heart.international.
