In 1918 , the Swine Flu swept through Army camps and training posts around the world including Puerto Rico , infecting one quarter of all soldiers and killing more than 55,000 American troops . González was sent to Ponce , Puerto Rico , where she assisted Dr. Dolores Piñero and four male colleagues , when they opened a 400-bed hospital to care for infected patients and World War I veterans . González served as the voluntary Director of Emergency Unit in the city of Mayagüez , helping the victims of the San Fermín earthquake . From 1919 to 1924 González was the Director of Puerto Rico 's Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing . During this time ( 1921 ) , she traveled to New York and attended Columbia University . After leaving the Presbyterian Hospital she became director of the nursing at the Hospital Episcopal San Lucas ( St. Lukes Hospital ) in Ponce . While there she organized the nursing program and finally published her “ Diccionario Medico para Enfermeras ” , which she had written in 1917
San Fermín earthquake
1918 San Fermín earthquake
Rosa A. González