Responding in times of crisis

Rhonda Lindstrom, a nurse from Aurora, Wisconsin, has dedicated her career to providing medical care in disaster zones worldwide. She works with Samaritan's Purse, a global disaster relief organization. Lindstrom's journey into disaster nursing was unconventional, starting with degrees in Spanish and business administration before pursuing nursing at 40. She began her nursing career in Wisconsin hospitals and joined Samaritan's Purse in 2016. Lindstrom's deployments have taken her to various crisis zones, including Ukraine during the conflict with Russia, Turkey after a major earthquake, and several locations in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. In these settings, she has provided critical care to patients with war-related injuries, untreated chronic conditions, and trauma. Lindstrom's work often requires her to step outside traditional nursing roles and adapt to unpredictable environments. She has worked in challenging conditions, including a COVID-19 hospital in New York City's Central Park and in a newly freed city in Ukraine where residents had been hiding in basements for months.