To the Editor:

I would like to take this opportunity to give a big "thank you" to all of the staff at Claxton Hepburn Medical Center who graciously worked through the Code HICS that was activated on Christmas Eve through the mid-morning hours of Christmas Day. After the treacherous drive into work on the morning of 12/24 and working a scheduled 12 hour shift, a Code HICS was activated by the nursing supervisor and all staff were not allowed to leave the building due to a mass amount of staff call-ins related to the weather.

As many can imagine, emotions were all over the place after this emergency response plan was activated. Phone calls and text messages were made to reach out to loved ones that they wouldn't be making it home, and instructed guardians to give extra love to their children and remind them how good they've been this year while tucking them in for bed before Santa Claus arrives.

After the frustration settled, plans were made amongst units to figure out what the best options were to get through for the next unknown amount of hours. I'd like to recognize our nursing supervisor, Katherine Terwilliger, and express my gratitude for her astonishing leadership and guidance during these dark times. Katie had the most challenging job of all, in my opinion, to have to make the tough call and notify the employees that they wouldn't be making it home after their scheduled shift ended. Being the only form of management/administration in the entire building with no guidance on how to proceed, Katie did a tremendous job and she must be commended for her actions. Katie is the true definition of a leader, not dictator or manager and I think I speak for many when I say we are all proud to work along side of her. She not only gave clear, concise instructions on how we would proceed, and handle the supervision aspect of things, but she also "gloved up" and helped on the floors and did patient care. Most importantly, she was compassionate with the staff- she gave hugs, held hands, talked people down, and gave us some type of hope that she would try everything in her power to get people home as soon as she could for Christmas.

On top of the number of jobs Katie had, she also was coordinating on how to get people to the hospital that were willing, but didn't have a way. Even though there were a mass amount of call ins, some scheduled employees still showed up for their shift and I can't say thank you enough to those individuals. We also had a few nurses that graciously on Christmas Eve volunteered to leave their warm homes and families to come into work and help. Special thank you to JP Phillips and Lindsay Lynch that drove through the snowy conditions to come in and take a patient assignment and lend helping hands. Another thank you to Sean O'brien from the Sheriff's Department that graciously took on the challenge of driving 20+ miles in the blizzard to pick up two nurses, Tracy Roberts and Kaitlyn Parcell. This courageous act took over 3 hours. Kaitlyn was scheduled and willing to come to work, and Tracy volunteered to help despite the challenges faced on getting there. After these 2 nurses showed up, emergency service vehicles were no longer going to pick anymore nurses up due to the road conditions growing worse and worse, as there were a couple more volunteers.

Another thank you to Debbie Laflair that came in on her night off to work in the ER as an aid/mental health worker. Deb tried to retire a short while ago, but because of a strong work ethic and need to help others, she put her boots on and showed up ready to work saying, "where do you want me and what do I need to do." Everyone should look up to Debbie as she is one of the hardest, most dedicated workers to ever be employed by CHMC.

I'd also like to thank Ogdensburg Rescue Squad for not only sending someone in with food for us hungry ER people, but also lending helping hands with the patients they brought us in that night. As you can imagine, in that type of weather, we had some pretty ill patients be transported.

Looking back on the 24+ hour shift, I'm proud of everything that was accomplished by staff. Christmas carols were sung, decorations were put up and tree's were lit, candy was delivered to units, hugs were given, kind words were exchanged, and the patients were taken care of. One lucky patient even received a Santa hat upon being transferred from ER to upstairs to remind everyone that "you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town."

At 3:15am after being awake for 22 hours, it was my turn to lay down for a nap and couldn't help but toss and turn wondering when any of us would get out of there. At 0700 I was woken up to, "Get out here! You're not going to believe it but day shift showed up!" My eyes instantly filled up with tears as I walked down the ER hall to the nurses station to see bright, smiling faces greeting me. Thank you so much Tisa Baker and Fayeanne West for showing up to relieve us, and Bill Baker for not only bringing Tisa, but picking up the ER doctor after his car got stuck. That was by far my favorite gift for Christmas- getting to go home after a long day and night and I don't think I will ever be able to express my gratitude to you guys. A special thank you to the overnight staff: Zach Shantie, Wendy Dow, Deb Laflair, Keith Morgan, Dan Cassada, Elissa Moyer, Jason White, and Dr Al-Hussein for making our shift in the ER bearable- I wouldn't have wanted to do it with anyone else.

By 8:40am on Christmas Day, all mandated staff were sent home. I write this for public eyes because I want everyone to know how dedicated the staff is to ensuring proper care is made and needs are met for their patients despite the ongoing challenges that are faced, and Christmas Eve, we did just that.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am beyond proud to work alongside the smartest, toughest, northcountry-strong staff.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Taylor Putney, RN, CEN