About DEMA
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How it all began...
It all began in 2017.... On the evening of October 8th 2017, Michelle Patino & Mica Pangborn returned home from an overnight trip to San Jose to watch their beloved San Jose Sharks. Upon arriving back to Petaluma they were both exhausted after a fun weekend night out of town. Mica started some laundry while Michelle rested for her shift early the next morning at Kaiser ED. As the evening progressed, Michelle fell asleep on the couch while Mica finished up some chores while listening to the news. The news broke out that a bad fire had started in Napa County, which is where Mica grew up so it caught her attention. As the night progressed, the fire progressed quicker and Mica started pacing the house trying to alert Michelle. Michelle was tired and Mica knew she needed her sleep to be at work the next morning, especially, as she watched what was unfolding with the fires growing closer to Sonoma County. As the night progressed further, the fires progressed unbelievably faster, by morning Kaiser Santa Rosa had been evacuated and Michelle was called off/standby but was dressed and ready to go to work.
At that time they decided to go to the Sonoma Marin Fairgrounds, which is a block from their home, as they read on the Nextdoor App that it had opened as an evacuation center and they were in need of blankets and pillows. Michelle & Mica gathered all the pillows and blankets they could find and were off to the fairgrounds. Upon their arrival..... it was a bit scary, There were several elderly residents that had just arrived on a bus from a Santa Rosa assisted living home. There was one retired nurse with her daughter trying to help all these people, their only supply, a broken Glucometer. The retired nurse looked to Michelle, seeing her ED RN Badge and asked. "Can you PLEASE help?" Our community members were evacuated with only the clothes on their back. Some without necessary medications,some with dementia.They were scared and confused and others in complete disbelieve of what was happening. It was at at moment Michelle Patino realized she had to help and she did not leave the site or sleep for over 60 hours, all volunteered time. And when she did have the oppurtunity to sleep, it was only for a few hours then right back to the evacuation center.Within the next 3 to 3 1/2 weeks more than 800 people came through the evacuation center. Michelle reached out to several fellow medical colleagues who stepped up and volunteered their time as well. Patino had established a well oiled machine that helped hundreds of people in their most desperate time. She developed a system that worked.Then....On October 23, 2019 the Kinaid Fire erupted and it all began again, only this time Patino was a bit more prepared, at least with a plan, so she thought. Michelle and Mica arrived at the Sonoma Marin fairgrounds to help as she had established an amazing team of medical and supportive staff of vonunteers that she knew she could count on and had already started reaching out to, some were already on their way. But when they arrived to the gate they were turned away, saying they had it all under control and did not need any help. They were a bit perplexed and confused so decided to go across the street and have breakfast with another volunteer who showed up to help. After breakfast they stopped by the fairgrounds one more time, only to be told the same thing, so they headed home. Then, later that evening Pation received a call from an MD who was at the evacuation center asking "Why in the world are you not here? This place is a disaster and needs you!" With that, Pation but her shoes on and headed out the door and within a very small amount of time had the medical portion of the evacuation center organized and running like a well oiled machine, once again.Once the smoke settled, Patino realized the need for an acute response of medical assistance during disasters in their community and became more involved in community meetings. Patino and Pangborn decided in November of 2019 it was time to make a change in our community and offer our services in disasters on every scale. Here we are......
At that time they decided to go to the Sonoma Marin Fairgrounds, which is a block from their home, as they read on the Nextdoor App that it had opened as an evacuation center and they were in need of blankets and pillows. Michelle & Mica gathered all the pillows and blankets they could find and were off to the fairgrounds. Upon their arrival..... it was a bit scary, There were several elderly residents that had just arrived on a bus from a Santa Rosa assisted living home. There was one retired nurse with her daughter trying to help all these people, their only supply, a broken Glucometer. The retired nurse looked to Michelle, seeing her ED RN Badge and asked. "Can you PLEASE help?" Our community members were evacuated with only the clothes on their back. Some without necessary medications,some with dementia.They were scared and confused and others in complete disbelieve of what was happening. It was at at moment Michelle Patino realized she had to help and she did not leave the site or sleep for over 60 hours, all volunteered time. And when she did have the oppurtunity to sleep, it was only for a few hours then right back to the evacuation center.Within the next 3 to 3 1/2 weeks more than 800 people came through the evacuation center. Michelle reached out to several fellow medical colleagues who stepped up and volunteered their time as well. Patino had established a well oiled machine that helped hundreds of people in their most desperate time. She developed a system that worked.Then....On October 23, 2019 the Kinaid Fire erupted and it all began again, only this time Patino was a bit more prepared, at least with a plan, so she thought. Michelle and Mica arrived at the Sonoma Marin fairgrounds to help as she had established an amazing team of medical and supportive staff of vonunteers that she knew she could count on and had already started reaching out to, some were already on their way. But when they arrived to the gate they were turned away, saying they had it all under control and did not need any help. They were a bit perplexed and confused so decided to go across the street and have breakfast with another volunteer who showed up to help. After breakfast they stopped by the fairgrounds one more time, only to be told the same thing, so they headed home. Then, later that evening Pation received a call from an MD who was at the evacuation center asking "Why in the world are you not here? This place is a disaster and needs you!" With that, Pation but her shoes on and headed out the door and within a very small amount of time had the medical portion of the evacuation center organized and running like a well oiled machine, once again.Once the smoke settled, Patino realized the need for an acute response of medical assistance during disasters in their community and became more involved in community meetings. Patino and Pangborn decided in November of 2019 it was time to make a change in our community and offer our services in disasters on every scale. Here we are......