Donna Mirenda, a critical care nurse at El Camino Hospital and assistant clinical instructor for De Anza College School of Nursing, is one of a small select cadre of doctors and nurses invited to participate aboard the USNS Mercy in the Project HOPE Medical Mission off the coast of Indonesia. She will work in the ship’s intensive care unit caring for tsunami survivors.

Mirenda credits her training at De Anza’s School of Nursing, volunteering with the American Red Cross, her assistant clinical instructing and her experience in El Camino’s Critical Care Unit in helping her qualify for this assignment.

Mirenda said she is “very proud to be one of the selected nurses,” and feels that her experience and training will be helpful.

“It is an undertaking that I wish every nurse could experience,” she said. “To totally immerse yourself in giving to those in such desperate need is why I became a nurse.”

Concerning the long-term outlook in Southeast Asia’s tsunami ravaged area, Mirenda said, “Hopefully, I can make the task of those that follow me a little easier. It’s important that we continue to put focus on the very real need there.

“It’s too easy for the public to forget the horrific damage that occurred over one month ago,” Mirenda said. “Bodies are still being recovered and there are tens of thousands of people unaccounted for. We can’t forget that the total scope of the devastation is still being uncovered. That’s why this volunteer work is so important.”

Project HOPE’s (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) main focus is health education throughout the world, providing medical training and supplies to help people help themselves.

The USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) is a 1,000-bed naval hospital ship that has seen tours of duty in the Philippines, the South Pacific and the Arabian Gulf during Desert Shield.

The Project HOPE group will concentrate on major medical treatment. This is the first time any civilian group of volunteers has been recruited and deployed without significant prior unit training.