Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer

Irene Pagola, 84, has worked for five years in the volunteer auxiliary in the emergency room of El Camino Hospital in Mountain View. She is notorious for running 'down [the halls] like a little whipfire.'

Saving Grace

Hospital volunteer views her experiences as her 'salvation'

By Melissa Matchak

Hearing an ambulance go by with its sirens blaring may not have an effect on most people, but for Irene Pagola, the sirens she heard one day changed her life.

Pagola, a Cupertino resident, was unhappy with the daily routine of her life, until one day, after hearing the familiar sirens go by her bedroom window, she decided to become a hospital volunteer.

"I said to myself, 'that's what you have to do,'" Pagola mused.

Now, going into her fifth year as a volunteer in the emergency room at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, Pagola said that decision was the best she's ever made.

As a patient relations representative, Pagola, 84, visits every patient in the emergency room--the place in the hospital where she chose to work. Pagola said she chose to work in the emergency room because she knew she would be able to do the most good there.

"I wouldn't work anywhere else," Pagola said. "I feel like a human being for the first time in my life; I feel good about being able to help people at my age."

One of her jobs is to help patients feel more at ease, while they are in the emergency room.

"Patients love it when you come to their bed, because they're frightened. I hold their hand and try to make them comfortable," Pagola said.

Pagola said the most difficult part of her job is seeing young children, who are badly hurt or very ill, come into the emergency room. She added it is also hard to console those who have just lost a loved one.

During her two three-hour shifts at El Camino each week, Pagola also helps out in the labs, in making up gurneys, and even in the laundry room, helping to fold towels ,while waiting to pick up pillows for patients.

"I do everything. Whatever they need, I do it," Pagola stated.


Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer

Ten-month old Elvis Morales, center, receives a stuffed rabbit from hospital volunteer Irene Pagola, right, while mom, Lorena, gives a smile. Elvis was in the emergency room that day not feeling well, so Irene went to find a toy to cheer him up.




Pagola's efforts haven't gone unnoticed. Pam Swanson, a volunteer at El Camino Hospital for the past four years, works with Pagola during her shift on Thursdays. Swanson said Pagola gives her all in helping the patients, doctors and nurses there.

"She goes full-speed, whatever she's doing," Swanson said. "She has a big heart, and she's very compassionate. You've got to have that when you work with people in the emergency room."

Swanson, who also works in the emergency room, said she and Pagola try to provide laughter for their patients who need it.

"In the emergency room, most people are dealing with a lot of fear, and we try to bring humor to them. Irene's great at that, and we have a lot of fun working together," Swanson said.

Pagola's volunteer efforts have not only been beneficial for the patients whose lives she has touched, but in her own life, as well.

"Volunteering was my salvation, it changed my life," Pagola said. "When I work, I don't have an ache or a pain. I feel better working there when I don't feel good."

It seems to be in Pagola's nature to help those in need. When she was 11, she invited a homeless man to her house when he told her on the street that he had no food and nowhere to sleep. Pagola said she didn't understand at that age what a "hobo" was, and thought nothing of taking him home for a bite to eat.

Pagola, who will be 85 in September, said she would continue to volunteer for as long as she possibly can, and urges others who are able to become volunteers.

"I plan to be a volunteer until my legs buckle. I'll be there forever, as long as my health stays with me," Pagola said. "I encourage those who are able to volunteer to do it, their life will be better for it."

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There are many shifts and positions available for volunteers at El Camino Hospital. For more information, call the volunteer hotline at 650.940.7214.

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