Researchers from the Julius L. Chambers Biomedical and Biotechnology Research Institute (JLC-BBRI) spent the weekend of Nov. 1 – 3 assisting in the health care of residents in western North Carolina.
Jasmine Benner, a public health educator, passed out flyers advertising their services.
“We distributed compressions stockings, glucometers, EpiPens, and ibuprofen with a licensed physician on-site to write prescriptions,” said Dr. Aaron Moore.
Area residents visiting the NCCU mobile health clinic received assistance with maladies including urinary tract infections, changing bandages, medication, treatment for high blood pressure, tetanus vaccinations and blood sugar checks, said Leatrice Martin, a public health educator.
“Some people didn’t have insurance,” said Dr. Thuhuong Trinh. Trinh and her husband Dr. Peter Le, both of the St. Joseph Primary Care in Raleigh, teamed up with BBRI employees for the volunteer visit.
“Some were unable to contact their doctors,” Trinh said. “They needed something right away. That accessibility, that we were just there, and people could see us quickly.”
Though Hurricane Helene inundated western North Carolina with rain and flooding in late September, its aftereffects remain more than a month later.
BBRI researchers including three nurses plus Dr. Trinh initially set up in a Walmart parking lot in Spruce Pines, North Carolina.
Later, they drove west to Burnsville, North Carolina. On the drive, Benner saw piles of debris along the side of the road including stoves, mattresses and household items.
“Trucks were going in and out hauling debris constantly,” Benner said. “I saw a truck trailer at an angle, like it was sliding down a hill.”
“There were a lot of homes entirely destroyed,” Moore said. “Along with larger trucks and a car in the river.”
When the mobile health clinic set up in Burnsville, they weren’t alone.
“A strip mall had been turned into a mobile disaster relief center,” Martin said. “There were supplies included food, toiletries, pet food, medications, heaters, diapers, cleaning supplies, blankets and electrical extension cords.”
Before their visit, BBRI gathered donations of diapers, blankets, jackets and other items for distribution to area residents in western North Carolina.
Besides helping area residents, the BBRI researchers used their time as a learning experience for future visits.
“Sometimes it is tough to know until you are there, what the needs are,” said Moore.
The mission of the BBRI is to conduct research on health issues that disproportionately affect minority and underserved populations. BBRI also reaches out to counties to enhance community health and assist health departments with funding from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
