Clinton Rice (right) and his CI, Grant Oglesby

Clinton Rice, 6th year Doctor of Physical Therapy student, is at St. John’s Health System in Springfield, Missouri for one of his clinicals. Clinton wrote the following description about his experience.

After the tornado hit Joplin on May 22, we had a fairly large influx of patients, not only those that were injured in the tornado but also many that were already in the hospital in Joplin when the tornado struck.  Needless to say, we heard some pretty incredible stories from many of these patients and were inspired to do something to help.  On Thursday, May 26, we had the day off work so we decided to volunteer with the relief effort in Joplin.  Volunteers were placed in one of two groups, either search and rescue or debris removal.  Since both of us had experience in health care and were certified in CPR and first aid, we were placed in search and rescue.  We spent the entire day searching for survivors, bodies of victims, and helping victims recover items that were lost in the rubble of buildings.  Seeing the devastation was a very sobering experience, but being there to help people and seeing how grateful they were to have us there was very rewarding.