AVERY COUNTY, N.C. — A nurse and doctor from Central Iowa are providing medical care to victims affected by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.
Dr. Mollie James and Ashley Lester want to make sure all of the victims feel cared for in their time of need. Dr. James owns the James Clinic in Chariton while Lester is a nurse at Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines.
The two Central Iowans arrived in Spruce Pine, North Carolina on Monday. They’re stationed at the Avery County Airport where helicopters are working around the clock to rescue people trapped in their own homes.
“There's no phones, there's no internet and on the mountains, they don't have power," Dr. James said. "So if they do have a Starlink, they need a generator to run it, and they're running out of generators.”
The field hospital at the airport is still getting fully set up, but will soon offer medical services to people rescued.
“We're concerned about a lot of dehydration," Dr. James said. "People have been without power, water and food for seven days. We're planning for the common things that you see when you don't have clean, sanitation and running water.”
Dr. James and Lester brought donations like IV fluids, clothes and blankets with them to help start up the field hospital. Medical personnel from St. Louis and Indiana are also at the field hospital assisting.
“That's why I'm a nurse, to help people, " Lester said. "I just felt like I kept seeing thing after thing after thing and video after video. North Carolina just needed a lot of help.”
The field hospital could eventually turn into a 24/7 operation because the need is so dire following the storm.
“It's extremely scary to think that there may be people out there that no one knows they're there," Dr. James said. "This is the most devastation anyone has ever imagined in this region.”
Dr. James and Lester will be on the ground helping until next Monday.