The Maui wildfires have held the nation's attention in recent days, and here in southwest Florida, there's a tie close to home.
Former Florida Gulf Coast University student Brenna Rawls works as a registered nurse in Maui. For the last few days she's been treating patients effected by the fires, all while working with her former professors to raise money for survivors.
"The fire spread so fast," Rawls said. "It just was pure chaos."
Rawls is currently treating burn victims at Maui Memorial Hospital, across the island from Lahaina, where more than 100 people have been confirmed dead.
"People were telling me that they were stuck in a hotel with no power, no electricity... where they fled to," Rawls said. "They needed emergency medication. They had kids with asthma exacerbations, just all kinds of needs."
She added that many of the nurses she works with no longer have a home to return to.
"It takes an extraordinary person to care for others while they simultaneously are moving through grief and total devastation and loss," said Tara Ryan Kosmas, who runs Debriefing the Front Lines.
Debriefing the Front Lines is a non-profit group serving in times of natural disaster like the Maui wildfires, and like Hurricane Ian, after which they provided psychological first aid to nurses.
"We did respond boots on the ground in southwest Florida, and provided over $10,000 worth of supplies as well as the briefing services," said Kosmas.
Now, southwest Florida has the opportunity to give back to this destination in Maui where, like southwest Florida, millions of people come each year to visit the ocean.
"We have an entire town that is just completely gone. There's so much Hawaiian history, homes that people have lived in for generations."
Debriefing the Front Lines is asking for monetary donations to directly help the nurses serving at the only hospital on Maui. To donate, visit https://debriefingthefrontlinesinc.org/donate.
