By Andrew Weeks
PORT ANGELES — In an effort to bring relief to the victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Port Angeles resident Pat Flood will be traveling to New Orleans in December as part of a national nonprofit organization.
But instead of helping to repair bridges or build homes, she will be trying to help ease the effects of post-traumatic stress caused by the hurricanes through acupuncture.
Flood has been in private practice since 1993, and has owned her Port Angeles office, Olympic Acupuncture, since 1997.
She received her master’s degree in acupuncture from Bastyr University in Seattle in 1993.
Flood will be traveling with a newly formed group called Acupuncturists Without Borders, a name that emulates the better known organization Doctors Without Borders.
“It’s a fairly new organization,” Flood said.
“We are utterly grass roots and run completely by volunteers.”
While in New Orleans, Flood will perform auricular — or ear — acupuncture.
The practice involves inserting five small needles into the ears.
The needles hit “little dots” inside the ear, as Flood calls them, which helps relax the body’s nervous system.
While thousands of volunteers have helped bring relief to hurricane victims, Flood says there are still people without homes and shelter who are feeling the depressing effects of their loss.