While Javid Richman was operating a router at the Wildcat Park construction site Saturday morning, a sliver of wood flew up and lodged in his eye.

Richman, 18, headed to a camper near the registration table where Nadine Grzeskowiak, a registered nurse, rinsed his eye with a saline solution.

“Did we get it out?” Grzeskowiak asked Richman, a junior at Corvallis High School.

“I think so. It feels a lot better,” he said, gently dabbing away excess saline.

Since Tuesday, when volunteer builders descended on the site next to Wilson Elementary School to help build a replacement playground, Grzeskowiak has volunteered her time and medical expertise at least 13 hours a day. She typically treats between 15 and 20 patients per day for everything from minor lacerations to puncture wounds to heat exhaustion, dehydration and “lots of blisters.”

Despite all the sawing, shoveling and hammering going on, there have been no major injuries or trips to the hospital, said Grzeskowiak, 41.

Grzeskowiak works with Favorite Healthcare Staffing, and is stationed in emergency rooms around the state. She’s also started her own mobile nursing business, RN On Call, through which she donated medical supplies to help patch up Wildcat Park volunteers.

Grzeskowiak lives just blocks from Wilson Elementary, and her husband, Brad Loveland, helped build the first Wildcat Park playground. Her daughter, Hannah Loveland, is a fifth-grader at Wilson, and has been assisting with rebuilding efforts this week. Also pitching in is her son, Rory Loveland, 19, a Wilson alumnus.

“I can’t imagine our neighborhood without a park,” Grzeskowiak said.

In addition to bandaging cuts sustained on the job, Grzeskowiak gets general medical questions from volunteers about ailments not necessarily related to the Wildcat Park project, and she’s happy to dispense free advice.

“I’m having a fabulous time,” she said. “This is great.”

Volunteer and former Wilson student Lisa Smart, 21, appreciated having a nurse on-site when she, like Richman, got a bit of debris in her eye. A quick rinse, and it was back to work.

Matthew Erickson, 19, stopped by because of a blister he got while shoveling.

Grzeskowiak has a tried-and-true remedy for this annoying injury. Wash the blister, then apply a bit of triple-antibiotic ointment before covering with a bandage and padding with moleskin.

“No one has come back with any problems. It’s worked really well,” she said.

To avoid a trip to the nurse’s station, Grzeskowiak has some preventative measures she suggests volunteers take.

Wear sunscreen, drink plenty of water and sports beverages (which replace sodium, potassium and other electrolytes lost when people sweat), wear gloves and eat snacks such as energy bars and fruit.

“Bananas are a great thing to prevent muscle fatigue and cramps the next day,” Grzeskowiak said.

She also encourages motorists on Northwest Satinwood Street to drive slowly in the school zone — during Wildcat Park construction and after the project is finished.

Although it’s been a long week, seeing the community come together to rebuild the playground has made it all worthwhile, Grzeskowiak said.

“The energy has been nothing but positive, and it’s so much fun to see all these people come out,” she said. “I’m very proud of my neighborhood and my neighbors.”

Mary Ann Albright can be reached at maryann.albright @lee.net or 758-9518.

SATURDAY

NUMBERS

Volunteers: 500

Volunteer hours worked: 1,500

Donations still needed: $8,000

Cases of water consumed: 75.

Most urgent need: Volunteers, especially at the 8 a.m. shift. A strong turnout is required for the ribbon-cutting at the park to go off as scheduled at 5 p.m. Sunday. “If you’re reading this Sunday morning,” said organizer Mark Hoffman, “you should be at Wildcat Park.”

How to help: Go to www.newwildcatpark.org.