When Nurses Are Called to Duty

Earlier this year, in the midst of the Iraq war, two of Wuesthoff Health System's surgical nurses were called to serve their country.

Alex Cooley, CRNA, a first lieutenant in the Army Nursing Corps and father of four, was one of the Wuesthoff nurses who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Cooley spent time in Iraq serving in a field hospital, and was involved with the care of rescued POW Jessica Lynch.

He spent most of his 16 weeks at the Army's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the largest American hospital outside the United States. Americans wounded in the war were treated at Landstuhl before bring transferred to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC.

Shifting Gears
"It was a bit surreal giving anesthesia to soldiers who had been shot in one case," Cooley said, "then doing a labor epidural for delivery of a baby in the next case."

Most of the soldiers were in excellent spirits, and were highly motivated, he said. They just wanted to get back to their unit and do what they were trained to do.

"I feel honored to have been able to serve them," Cooley stated.

As for Wuesthoff, Cooley said the hospital and anesthesia group "was nothing but supportive to me." Cooley trains every year to keep up with his skills in the Army, as well as supplemental training needed for each mission.

Grandmother Serves
Gladys Jeannette Curtis, CRNFA, is a Navy lieutenant commander select, a reservist who joined the Navy 13 years ago. She has three sons and nine grandchildren.

"I joined the Navy to serve my country and help in time of war with my skills as an operating room nurse," Curtis said.

When she was called to active duty in April, she was excited, anxious and very busy changing her life in Satellite Beach to live in Bethesda, MD. She was told that she could be gone anywhere from 1-2 years, although as it turned out she was back home by summer.

Support From Co-Workers
Curtis said her superiors at Wuesthoff were very supportive, assuring that her job would be there when she returned.