Volunteers needed for No One Dies Alone program
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A hospital program is hoping to add more volunteers for an important job.
The volunteers are needed to help comfort patients during their final moments of life.
Around 75 people volunteer for the No One Dies Alone program at Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital. Volunteers are called in after receiving word that a patient won’t have much longer to live.
Tamara Corbett recently spent time on the tenth floor of Eskenazi Hospital providing comfort to a patient she’s never met before.
“I was looking for a way to give back because I myself had suffered a loss,” said Tamara Corbett, volunteer. “I had a stillborn child.”
Corbett said she was surrounded by family and friends during that difficult time. She knows that others might not have that support.
“When I saw this program and realized that they had no one, I knew this was what I wanted to do,” said Corbett.
Corbett has been a volunteer with the No One Dies Alone program for about two and a half years now.
“It seemed like their suffering was over and I was holding their hand and touch can be so relaxing,” said Corbett.
Corbett said she remembers her first experience like it was yesterday.
“I was very nervous with my first vigil. I didn’t know if I could say or do the right thing, but come to find out, they made me feel more comfortable,” said Corbett. “Listening is the best thing you can do.”
But Corbett said this program may not be for everyone. Volunteers have to go through training, like learning to recognize the different types of breathing when a patient is about to pass on.
“With this group we teach them how to talk about death and dying and to be comfortable with it and it makes the world of difference to normalize what’s going on for patients,” said No One Dies Alone director Karen Estle.
Estle said most of the patients are referred to the program by nurses or doctors. Some might not have relatives in town, while others might not have any loved ones to say goodbye to.
“I remember one patient, he said his favorite book in the Bible was Mark and I think he was read that book about 20 times in the process of him dying,” said Estle. “He thought it was absolutely amazing to hear his favorite words of scripture by so many people.”
Click here for more information about the program and on how to become a volunteer.