[Word] [Pix] Occupy San Francisco Medical Tent is a Go

OSF camp is expanding its community

* = names changed
There's a great hollowness of spirit when you learn that a 75-year-old homeless woman you know and like is dying of pancreatic cancer; and a certain percentage of American would categorize her as natural selection in action. Pancreatic is a swift and cruel killer -- it's what finally did in Patrick Swayze. But she isn't chaff to be separated, and isn't that so easy to say when you think you're the wheat? She's an African American woman who was born in the 30's, went to college and post-grad, and founded a nonprofit that assisted abused African American mothers.

I don't know why Mrs. Kidd* is sleeping under a tarp, upright in a wheelchair at the Occupy San Francisco permanent live/work camp, but she is living out her days in sickness and pain, and without dignity.

So.

After more than a week of visiting the Occupy San Francisco camp, stories like these are wearing on my soul, so I was elated to see that the medical tent run by the National Association of Nurses was erected today at 9 am.

[Read more below the cut: "We hope everyone visits us."]

Despite the edicts repeatedly delivered by San Francisco police prohibiting four-sided tents, and the police raid over campers constructing tents on October 15th, the two-cot, white medical tent emblazoned with red crosses is permanently erected on the north-east corner of camp. Senator Leland Yee was present at the unveiling to support the initiative.

The nurses will volunteer two days a week, and volunteer medics will be present the rest of the week. They will offer first aid care to all campers, but especially focusing on those who have been homeless long-term.

Patricia Ayett and Erin Carerra, nurses

"We hope everyone visits us," said nurse practitioner Patricia Ayett, of UCSF medical center, who oversaw the construction of the tent. She was spurred to support the campers at Occupy San Francisco because she is displeased with the greed she sees displayed by Wall Street businesspeople.

Registered nurse Erin Carerra of UCSF medical center is volunteering at the tent because feels it is wrong that the cost of healthcare has caused so many Americans to " make that choice between paying their bills and taking care of themselves" and even driving some to homelessness.

Cases Carerra saw on the first day of the medical tent's existence included "a

No one knows if the tents will invite police attention.

lot of issues with their feet,. They've been out in the cold wearing not-so-great shoes and wet shoes for some time." The effects of long-term unclean skin is a problem, as well as splinters and sprained fingers.

"State laws are holding us back" from dispensing medications or antibiotics, said Ayett, but they dispense a lot of socks, bandages, and handi-wipes. They also hand out soap, toothbrushes, and toothpaste when they have these items from donations. "We are trying to keep the people here at least clean and healthy, because there are no water or bathrooms set up for them."

A doctor at the tent was the one who tipped me off about my friend Mrs. Kidd's illness. For her condition, he expressed an urgent need for a donation of adult diapers. In general, the medical tent's needs are extensive, and I've put the donation request a separate post. The medical tent is not a full service clinic, but it is a nurse's station that can give first-line medical treatment and advice, and dispense aid and comfort to the best of its abilities. 
 

---

Article and photos, c. Kristi Gutknecht 2011