Feature
Student helps alumni after Harrisburg tornado
Student Derek Bowers had an extraordinary preceptorship experience
Written by Rebecca Budde
As he rolled out of bed just before sunrise on Wednesday, February 29, Derek Bowers, MSIII, noticed bustling activity at the Harrisburg Medical Center, across the street from his residence. “I just decided spontaneously to go over there.” Though he knew a storm had hit, he was unaware of its severity until he walked into the hospital’s emergency room. Bowers was in the last month of his preceptorship in Harrisburg with Dr. Larry Jones, ’76 at Primary Care Group when the EF4 tornado ravaged the town early that morning.
Bowers noticed debris scattered in front of him as he crossed the street, but the area of his residence was not as severely damaged as the other parts of town. “I was trying to gauge the severity of what had happened based on the number of people in the emergency room,” says Bowers. Damage to the hospital meant that many of the patients would have to be transferred to nearby medical facilities.
Bowers took patient histories, sutured wounds and helped turn the physical therapy area into a make-shift triage. Then he heard the stories. A woman who had hip and ankle injuries told him she was thrown about 70 feet during the tornado. Another woman said that one moment she was lying in bed and the next thing she knew, she was lying in a ditch outside. “Each patient thought the next person’s story was worse,” says Bowers. “They all wanted to give up their beds to help each other out.”
Dr. Jones, who says his normal route from home to the hospital was blocked by fallen trees, arrived at the hospital early that morning expecting to see a handful of injured people. “I was shocked to see our emergency room packed and the overflow areas crowded with gurney after gurney of injured patients,” he says. “There in the middle of the carnage was Derek Bowers, assisting my partner Dr. Matt Winkleman. Derek remained calm and focused that morning and was quite helpful to have around. I think it was invaluable for him to experience how a small medical staff and a limited hospital staff can all work together during a disaster.”
Setting up a make-shift triage wasn’t an activity Bowers thought he would be involved in while participating in his preceptorship, but he was glad that he could volunteer. “I immediately got swept up in helping,” says Bowers. “I learned that acting and thinking quickly is essential in a medical emergency situation.”
Since the Primary Care Group’s building had no electricity, the physicians immediately set up a first aid tent in the parking lot. The group felt fortunate that their facility received only light damage from the tornado. They were able to help at the hospital that morning and were back in business at their own offices the next day.
Five of the nine physicians in The Primary Care Group are SIU School of Medicine graduates: Dr. Laura Winkleman, '02; Dr. Matthew Winkleman, '02; Dr. Larry Jones, '76; Dr. Steven Knight, '81; and Dr. Shannon Rider, '99.
Other alumni in the Harrisburg area include Dr. James Alexander, '88; Dr. Andrea Miller, '01; Dr. Hisham Youssef, '92; Dr. Nathan Oldham, '07 and Dr. Michal York, '89.