Penn Medicine held a special Veterans Day event to recognize and honor the many members of the Penn Medicine family who served in the military or continue to serve in Reserve or National Guard forces.
Julie Fairman, RN, PhD, of the Penn School of Nursing, spoke about the important role nurses have played in the military and their innovative ways of caring for soldiers “in all kinds of weathers and situations.” Examples include reusing tomato cans to sterilize bandages or using cotton from pill containers for microbial cultures. “Nurses will always keep patient care in their sights as they improvise and make things work for patients,” she said.
Jeremy Cannon, MD, medical director of the Trauma Center, cautioned about “military amnesia,” i.e., forgetting what’s been learned in medical care during combat and losing focus. What’s needed is “training military thought leaders for the next generation and reading the military and medical histories of past wars,” he said, “to understand where things went well and not well and then improve upon lessons learned.”
CEO Ralph Muller thanked those who serve for all they do. “We’re fortunate to have 300 vets in Penn Medicine. We all benefit from your skills,” he said. “Both health care and the military offer constant service to society and constantly step up when needed. That’s what we celebrate tonight.”
Also celebrating those who served were staff, family, and friends of Penn’s Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic. They marched in the annual Philadelphia Veterans parade … and were featured on TV!