We were all moved by the images coming from Nepal following the devastating earthquake in April 2015. In this guest blog from ReSurge International, we get a first-hand look at the devastation, need, and care provided.

The images emerging from Nepal were heartbreaking. An earthquake had reduced entire villages to rubble, and rescuers raced to find survivors while other residents, bleeding and caked with dust, wandered around in a daze.
Back in the U.S., the news made Elise Reay-Ellers’ heart sink. So when she received an urgent email from ReSurge International seeking experienced volunteers to help with relief efforts, the Seattle nurse knew what she had to do.
“I’m open to any surgery trip related to this,” Elise wrote back immediately.
That was on April 27. The next day she and the ReSurge team worked out logistics. Two days after that she was on a plane bound for Kathmandu.
On the way she steeled herself to face an emergency room overwhelmed with orthopedic and burn patients. As it turned out, the toughest part of the job had nothing to do with the workload.
“The biggest challenge was talking to all the patients and families and hearing their stories of loss,” Elise said. “People lost their homes, their loved ones, their income, livestock, everything. Most of them are so poor that they’ll have to work very hard to survive.”
Elise, 48, spent 10 days working at Kirtipur Hospital, just outside Kathmandu. She assisted surgeons and relieved other staffers who’d been working around the clock since the injured began pouring in.
Specifically, she managed the recovery room where patients are taken after surgery. Her team received about 10 patients per day, which she said was “pretty busy” considering the modest level of resources. The most common surgeries were to set broken bones and perform grafts on people who had lost skin due to burns and wounds.
Her workdays were so busy one day blended into the next. Before she realized it her 10-day mission was over, and she arrived back in Seattle on Mother’s Day. Several local TV stations captured her emotional reunion with her husband and 11-year-old daughter.
Elise told the reporters she’ll always remember the Nepali people for their resilience. She was especially touched to see how they kept hope alive even when they were surrounded by such devastation.
“They had lost their homes, and often they had nothing left,” said Elise, who works at Northwest Hospital in Seattle and Swedish Hospital in Edmonds, Wash. “But they had each other, and they’re staying strong.”
A library of photos from Nepal can be found here.
We are deeply grateful ReSurge International and to nurses like Elise, who are willing to do what it takes, when and where it is needed, to provide care.
~Michael and Frida Donner