The reduction in available emergency medical care in Los Angeles has resulted in an influx of worried patients to hospital emergency rooms, which becomes even more magnified during the holiday session. Our hospital is addressing this issue with a program that features volunteers who serve as “Angels in the ER.” The 30 volunteers at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica provide ER patients a hand to hold onto in helping them navigate through the ER process, offering emotional support while addressing their non-medical needs.
“It’s very scary to come to the ER, as I did two years ago,” says Mary Melgun, a retire computer science engineer and mathematician who became an ER Angel nine months ago. “Our goal is to help provide emotional support to patients who are in need of a shoulder to cry on. We are family here at Saint John’s and our patients in the ER are an extension of that.” After suffering a ruptured cerebral aneurysm that nearly killed her two years ago, Mary returns once a week to the same emergency room that she credits with saving her life. Through her life altering experience, Mary understands why it is truly better to give than to receive.
Volunteers like Mary greet patients as they arrive at Saint John’s Emergency Department and help direct them inside. Once in the ER, another Angel takes over to offer non-medical assistance to patients and their families until they are either discharged or admitted to the hospital.
The program is managed by retired RN Carla Hummer, a hospital volunteer who previously worked for Saint John’s for 25 years. Under her tireless direction, the Angels of the ER program is designed to help allay patients’ fears by answering their questions, gathering information, and making sure their non-medical needs are being addressed while in the ER. Often, though, the most important service they provide the ER is a willingness to take the time to listen and offer emotional support to patients and their worried family members.
If you have any questions or would like to schedule an interview, please call me at 310.656.4668.
Julie Watt