Inside Fort McCoy's gates: Local nurse witnesses history - WMTV - NBC15

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MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - In an NBC15 exclusive, a local Sun Prairie nurse recounts bearing witness to the Afghan refugee arrival taking place at Fort McCoy as she tests the temporary citizens for COVID-19.

Barb, who did not what to be identified further for privacy reasons, has more than three decades of experience in health care. She was performing COVID-19 testing for undocumented children in El Paso when she got the call to deploy to Fort McCoy.

“I was extremely excited,” she said. “Things had changed so quickly from like Sunday to Monday. All of a sudden Thursday I got a phone call saying we need people to go up to Fort McCoy because we’ll be gathering refugees and taking care of them so I was extremely excited to be a part of that moment in history, it just felt really good.”

Since refugees started arriving at the Tomah area base, Barb says about 850 refugees have been tested for COVID-19. So far, she says only 2 people have tested positive.

Of the people arriving most are traveling as a family group, but others – mostly men – are arriving alone, she said.

“They are anywhere from a 9 day old baby up to a grandmother,” Barb said.

While the refugees are tested for COVID immediately after arrival, she says in more recent days the base has been seeing people arriving with injuries, too.

“We did some testing on a flight that came in and we are seeing people come in who seem to be more injured with some frailties or injuries they sustained while in Afghanistan,” she said. “We’re seeing that more now.

During their testing, screening, vetting and counseling, Barb says the stories refugees have shared are harrowing.

“I’ve heard stories of people at the airport for four days not eating for seven days standing in line, they are extremely tired, hungry dehydrated,” she said. “They talk about the trauma they’ve gone through to get here and the people they have lost. In particular there was one women who came in through the covid testing site you could tell her leg was bothering her... she had seen her husband and four sons murder in front of her and she was beaten in front of the Taliban and suffered some injuries.”

Others, she says, are paranoid and unsure if they are truly safe.

“But you can see the look of relief on their face [when they arrive] which even talking about it makes me choke up because what a great thing we are doing as the United Sates, I really believe that,” Barb said.

For Barb, this work is her calling.

“I’m thankful I am now able to share my nursing skills and my love of people to do something like this,” she said. “I believe this is my calling from God for me to do this in my last years of nursing. I’m going to retire soon ans this is a nice way to end my career.”

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