Elkhart City Councilman helping with relief efforts for Afghan evacuees

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. – An Elkhart City Councilman went to Germany to help in evacuation efforts for Afghanistan refugees.

“We were there primarily in case there was an emergency. However, we had about 330 afghans and U.S citizens on that flight. We treated probably a little over 30 of them. Of the 330, I would say 20 to 25 percent were children,” Aaron Mishler said.

Mishler traveled to Germany on Thursday, not as a county representative, but as a registered nurse to aid in relief efforts for Afghanistan refugees from Rammstein air force base in Germany to Dulles International Airport in Washington.  

Mishler was a medic in the army and has been a registered nurse for the past three years.

He tells ABC57 that his experience was both humbling and moving to recount a moment he was able to help a mother who couldn’t feed her newborn baby.

“We were searching for a bottle, and I remember how we had syringes in the emergency medical kit. So, I ran back there and got them, and was the mother was able to feed her child with the syringe and the mouth and some formula, and I was very happy that I was able to provide some relief and care for that family right there,” Mishler said.

Mishler returned to Elkhart on Sunday. 

If you're interested to learn additional ways to help in the afghan relief effort visit  Americares | Disaster Relief & Global Health Organization for more information.