We divided up our blow up mattresses, shoes, toys, flashlights, energy bars, clothes and suitcases according to the needs of these unfortunate individuals.
Nadine, a young girl found in the rubble - her parents assumed dead was given the most with a duffle bag filled with shoes, toys, food, soap.
Nadine pictured above
We gave things to two other families that lived in the same tent. They had lost their homes and possessions. The air mattresses and another pair of shoes were given out to a mother and daughter. When we they were in the hospital the daughter would sleep by her moms cot on a flattened out cardboard box on the floor and then fold up it up every morning. Her mom was handicapped due to a left leg amputation.
above: Kettly and her daughter
These people mentioned had all been 'discharged' from the hospital but had no other place to go so wound up in this huge tent donated by canadians with around 20 other people. It was like 40 feet from the entrance to our hospital.
Then we went to maternity/peds and gave them a suitcase full of linens and towels as well as prenatal vitamins. We couldn't leave without holding some of the cute babies! (more pictures to come)
We passed out our special gifts to the in-hospital patients: clothes, fans, protein bars, shoes, tents, a backpack filled with toys. And all the patients received a condoms, soap, and a handmade card.The ones for all the patients were kind of a random assortment of goodies but the items seemed to be appreciated. I also carried around a box of condoms that went by really fast. It was ridiculous watching some of the guys grab condoms; some would say "oh, I REALLY need a lot of these" others would stand there and only pick out the "huge" condoms. (little do they know that they are all the same size, yes I did compare the two). Anyways we did a pretty good job giving stuff out but left some toys and lots of condoms for the next group to give out as well.
As we were roaming the halls saying good bye to our patients the orthopedic doctor ran up and said he really needed our help with his clinic patients. I had a few hours to spare before we needed to leave for the airport, so I jumped right in. Gurpreet went to the ED was immediately asked to help out too.
Dr Nelson explained briefly to go into one room and remove sutures and then start seeing his patients. It sounded a lot easier than it actually was.
the suture removal took way too long. plus there wasnt adequate lighting so the guy with the portable xray machine had to use the overhead light to serve as a spotlight for me.
When I was finally done I went to see the next patient. I walked in the room and got a history via translator - It wasn't really clear to me what I was supposed to be talking to the patients about so I just kept making up questions until I got some sort of history that pertained to the ortho subject. I was charting when a huge drop of water fell on the paper I was writing on smudging the ink on the chart. I looked up to see a huge leak in the ceiling. no big surprise. it had been raining pretty frequently this week and the building was not in great condition.
I saw the next patient a cute 2 year old with both legs in a cast and a bridge connecting them. The baby began screaming her head off as soon as i walked in the room. awesome. I gave her some toys but she still didnt like me anywhere near her. Anyways, the parents were told by another dr. that the baby needed her legs to be lengthened as a result the dr. put this bulky cast on. The parents wanted to know if they could get boots to correct the problem instead. As soon as the ortho doc, Dr. Nelson, saw this he immediately grabbed the electric cutter to remove the cast. The feet/legs were normal. The child walked fine. the parents were relieved and expectingly confused. We dont know who put the cast on but it didnt happen at our hospital.
Then I assisted Dr. Nelson in applying an arm cast on another patient. While we were applying it the power went out. No surprise it had been happening on and off throughout the past couple of days it was funny how after a while you dont really notice/acknowledge it and just keep on going.
the next kid we saw had one leg that was longer - i guess he had a fixed fracture and the bone had healed in a way that made the leg a bit longer. The dr. prescribed the family to go to a shoemaker and get a shoe lift made. well they had never heard of a shoemaker before and didnt know of one in existence. This wasnt the first time a MD had instructed/prescribed something that ended up being impossible for the patient to follow. Some examples are: a pt needs to take hot baths - there are no baths and no hot water; they need to take meds 3x per day with meals - most haitians are only able to eat one time per day.
As I worked my way through the line I noted that almost 80% of the patients' injuries were related to the earthquake. Almost all of them had scars on their arms and legs that were caused by the debris and concrete from collapsing buildings that had collapsed during the earthquake. A mark that would always remind them of the devastation and traumatic experience on jan 12.
pediatricians arent pictured. Dr. Mark - ED MD, midwives, and part of the ukiah team
At 1pm gurpreet, emily, becky and I were all packed up and ready to go. A small crowd of people had gathered on the steps of the hospital to say their good byes. The volunteer pediatricians and ED doctor were there as well as the translators and kids that were living in the tents. It had been so great working with all of the volunteer medical staff. They were all wonderful people with huge hearts and amazing clinicians. We took group pictures and played with the kids. We could really feel the combined love and appreciation from everyone that was there. It was really sad to leave everyone.
You are awesome, what an adventure! I have really enjoyed reading about your trip and my heart goes out to all those that are suffering so much in Haiti. I am sure your Mom and Dad will be glad to have you back home, at least in CA.
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