Wendin Gulbransen, RN, is the kind of person who would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. In this case, it was her hat.

“It was just a hat, but sometimes that’s the kind of thing someone needs,” said Gulbransen, who spent the better part of a week at Pasadena City College treating Los Angeles area fire survivors in a mobile health vehicle brought from Kaiser Permanente in South Sacramento. “The patient had skin cancer removed from her face, and she needed protection, so I gave her my hat. I was there to give everything I had. And that’s what I did.”

Gulbransen, a nurse manager in the Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center Cardiology Department, was joined by two other nurses from the Maternal Child Health Department, Tiffany Ryan, RN, and Ajani Hoffert, RN.

The three were among 468 California employees and physicians who volunteered to care for fire victims in Los Angeles recently. In addition, 725 employees donated just over $83,000 through January 31 to 4 area community organizations that are helping people and pets.

At least 29 people died in multiple fires that destroyed more than 16,000 structures in January, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. Thousands were pushed from their homes.

During and after the fires, Kaiser Permanente volunteers offered medical and mental health care, pharmacy support, and medical equipment at the city college, the Pasadena Convention Center, and the Kaiser Permanente Walnut Center.

At the convention center alone, Kaiser Permanente clinicians treated over 1,200 patients and transferred 42 to area emergency rooms as of January 23.

In addition to the mobile health vehicle from South Sacramento serving patients in Pasadena, a second mobile health vehicle from Southern California deployed to various sites in Los Angeles County.

“While I was there, we treated everything you could think of,” said Gulbransen. “People were injured evacuating, there were patients who hadn’t taken medication in a week, and they were having chest pain, or someone was experiencing respiratory issues from the smoke. We were able to manage all of them, and we had a paramedic on standby to take people to the hospital.”

Gulbransen said many patients arrived and hadn’t eaten in 24 hours.

They were dizzy and weak, so she gave them the snacks she brought in her backpack. Others “had just been going on adrenaline for 7 days, and when they saw the Kaiser van, they remembered, ‘I hurt, or I have a medical need.’”

“Our South Sac team felt very good to do something direct, something of value,” she said. “It made a difference in the moment for people seeking compassion. We brought layers of clothes and snacks, and we just gave it all away.”

Nick Boyce, Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento support services coordinator, helped set up the mobile health vehicle at the city college.

“Seeing the nursing team work with the patients and how the patients responded was just unreal,” said Boyce. “Taking a little bit of the load off people who came in was extremely gratifying. It felt great to support the community, even though I don’t live there.”

Sacha Martinez, RN, Adult and Family Medicine director at the Santa Rosa Medical Center, volunteered at the convention center.

“It was amazing to form instant nursing teams with colleagues from San Jose, South Sacramento, San Mateo, San Bernardino, and others,” said Martinez. “Kaiser has these truly amazing nurse leaders, and I feel privileged to call them my tribe.”

Martinez lived through the 2017 Tubbs fire in Santa Rosa when her grandmother lost her home. She observed the same kind of uplifting human behavior in Los Angeles as she did in the Santa Rosa area when fires destroyed entire neighborhoods.

“It’s amazing how quickly human beings can develop a sense of community,” she said. “People were caring for each other’s pets and kids, sharing resources, asking for help on behalf of others, braiding hair, giving massages, playing music. It’s hard to let go of connections I made with fragile souls who entrust you with their care and gift you their appreciation.”