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Red Cross and Nursing Spectrum Honor Nurse Heroes
Friday, December 10, 2004 — When a group of teenagers fired gunshots into a Mardi Gras crowd, registered nurse Deborah Johnson of Abita Springs, La., was knocked to the ground and injured in the ensuing panic. Four people were struck by the gunfire, but despite her wounds, Johnson quickly administered first aid and comfort to each shooting victim. Three of the four lived, thanks in large part to her efforts.
Back row: Mary Pennington, RN; Patti Rager, RN, President and Publisher, Nursing Spectrum; Laurie Fox, RN. Middle row: Joanna Kenney, RN; Deborah Johnson, RN; Theresa Miklusicak, RN; Franklin Peworski, father of Staff Sergeant Charles Peworski, RN. Bottom row: Evelyn Personeus, RN; Debra G. Watkins, RN; Janet Hansraj, RN;
Nancy McKelvey, RN, MS, Chief Nurse, American Red Cross; Mary Evans, LPN
Photo by Herman Farrer, Courtesy of Nursing Spectrum |
Nursing Spectrum and the American Red Cross recently joined forces once again to celebrate the lifesaving acts of ten nurse heroes like Deborah Johnson at the Nurse Hero Recognition ceremony at Red Cross headquarters in Washington, DC.
“Every day throughout the country, nurses are devoting their lives to helping others,” said Nancy McKelvey, RN, Chief Nurse for the Red Cross. “Even when their actions are above and beyond the call of duty, their exceptional humanitarianism, skills and knowledge may go unnoticed. By saluting nurses who have saved lives under extraordinary circumstances, we hope to pay tribute to the entire nursing profession.”
Even though the honorees often stated that they didn't see themselves as heroes, their selfless acts of courage reveal the true character of these medical professionals.
Debra G. Watkins risked her life to save two strangers involved in a horrific traffic accident. Watkins, an RN from Dayton, Ohio, coordinated evacuation of the less-injured accident victims and pulled a husband and wife to safety. She and a medical student then performed CPR on the woman until a Care Flight arrived.
In April 2003, Staff Sergeant Charles Peworski, an RN from Phoenix, Az. and 12 other Marines were injured in a sandstorm-induced multi-vehicle accident in Iraq. He immediately triaged and found three seriously injured victims, treating them for shock and multiple head, neck and limb injuries. And he did it all one-handed, due to his own broken arm.
Mary Evans, an LPN from Hickory, Miss., ran into the smoke and fire-filled house of her pregnant niece in an attempt to save her four grand nieces and nephews, who were trapped in a back bedroom. Crawling through a broken window into intense heat and black smoke, she managed to find and pull three of the young children to safety.
Jolted from a sound sleep, Evelyn Personeus, an RN from River Vale, N.J., ran to a car that had just crashed into her front-yard tree. Epitomizing why nurses are always “on” even when they’re “off,” Personeus went into response mode, remaining at the victim’s side to keep his airways open until the fire from the crash was out and he was freed.
Laurie Fox, an RN from Enfield, N.H., ran to the aid of a young motorcyclist whom she had witnessed being thrown onto the pavement, left unconscious and not breathing, following a high-impact collision with an SUV. She removed him from the road, stabilized his neck and began CPR, staying with him until help arrived.
After an elderly driver ran a stop sign and crashed into the passenger side of her car, registered nurse Mary Pennington from Angier, N.C. literally breathed life back into her 11-year-old daughter Caitlin. Despite her own injuries, Pennington managed to resuscitate Caitlin, whose lungs had collapsed, filling her mouth with blood. She remained unconscious for seven days.
Joanna Kenney, a registered nurse from Lake in the Hills, Ill., saved the life of a sheet metal repairman on site at her work facility, who had been struck by lightning and caught fire. Rescuing him first in the pouring rain from a small, wood-framed balcony under construction, she and a colleague administered CPR for over 10 minutes until paramedics arrived.
Instinctively stopping at the scene of an overturned vehicle that was leaking gas, RN Janet Hansraj of Rochelle Park, N.J., immediately came to the aid of the near-lifeless 18-year-old victim who was pinned in the vehicle. Directing others to extricate him while she held his head, she then
stabilized the victim and kept him breathing until paramedics arrived.
Theresa Miklusicak, an RN from Battle Creek, Mich., extricated four passengers, including two small children, from a smoking SUV that had just flipped over in front of her on the highway. Despite the urgings of onlookers to escape the potentially explosive vehicle, she persevered, until all four passengers were out of danger – including the driver, whose laceration she held with her hand until paramedics arrived.
“Our mission at Nursing Spectrum and NurseWeek has always been to support and recognize the nursing profession,” said Patti Rager, RN, President and Publisher of Nursing Spectrum. “We are delighted to share with the world the heroic stories of these courageous and caring registered nurses.”
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