Nursing News:
Oregon nurse teaches in Iraq despite dangers

Northwest Medical Teams is tightening its security in Iraq in preparation for another team of volunteers to arrive in the country next week. Otto Gonzalez, a nurse from Bay City, Ore., returns to the country April 26 for a five-week teaching project along with two nurses from Washington. Gonzalez spent a month in Iraq last September teaching advanced cardiac life support to medical workers there. He works at Tillamook General Hospital.
This team joins six other volunteer nurses from Australia, Alaska and Oregon already in the country. They are training healthcare workers in pediatric procedures, maternity care and intensive care protocols in hospitals in Erbil, Dohuk and Sulayminayah‹key cities in northern Iraq. Doctors and nurses in the area have been without updated medical equipment, supplies or training for more than a decade.
"The need for help in Iraq remains great," says Bas Vanderzalm, president of Northwest Medical Teams. "Many of the Iraqis we work with are most grateful for the teaching and help provided by our volunteers. Our staff and local partners monitor security conditions very closely. We also maintain active communication with our volunteers and are prepared to take whatever action may be needed to safeguard their security."
Northwest Medical Teams has sent 42 medical volunteers and 12 teams to Iraq since April 2003. Another team leaves for the country on May 9. The organization has also shipped more than $2.6 million in life-saving medical supplies to hospitals, clinics and remote villages in the last year.