Update from Daniel Patton – Day #4

Today I broadened my horizons. I climbed up on the roof of the hospital during the day. I could see the ocean, the Adventist college with it auditorium about to fall, and the thousands of tents of “tent city”. All set againts the back drop of the green mountains with fingers of the city crawling up with gnarled broken fingers.

I went exploring the camp and clinics outside the main hospital. I found a pediatric, AIDS, and obstetric clinics. I found newly constructed outhouses and the trash burning pit. Venturing behind the hospital I saw a sight the reminded me of when I was a child. I recall seeing cows that had died laying motionless behind my familys barn waiting for pick up by the smelly truck with a winch that would pull the lifeless mass into it’s bowels. There behind the hospital was a ghostly white man-sized bag labeled with label, “biohazard”. There was no one but me and the lifeless man in sight. I felt numb. I feel numb. I want to save life but… I wanted that man to have a family by him… He was alone in a baggy waiting for pick up, alone.

I went and learned a swear word from the Haitians. We all laughed. They laughed at me because I was swearing in a funny accent and I laughed because their reaction was so different from the idea I intended. Language is funny like that.

I saved a life with a knife. A little girl had a huge pimple on her leg. The fancy word for “pimple you can fit your whole finger in” is abcess. Those big pimples will kill more than your chances of kissing a girl. So I popped (lanced) it.

I finished the day by cleaning my room. The cast room was a mess. Now it’s not. I am proud. My back is killing me.

Update from David Puder – Day #4

Today we started at 730 am and finished around 10 pm. Alfonso and I worked on the er/short term ward.  There are many different groups, all bringing expertise to the hospital.  We really have become an essential part of the team, in terms of working up patients, making sure their care is moving forward, and sometimes giving meds, replacing IVs, getting creative… Like how do you treat someone with somewhat limited supplies… At times it is frustrating, at times extremely rewarding! Rounding is done at 12 hour shift changes, attendings are present when needed, and food and water are not an issue. It is hot, but it now feels normal, and the showers are a great end to the day! The key is the history and physical, there are many translators!

Things I’ve seen:

• Malaria
• Typhoid
• Scabes
• Worms
• Trauma
• Seizures
• Stroke
• Hyptertensive emergency
• Sepsis
• Acute abdomen
• Cholecystitis
• Post op issues
• Leptospirosis
• STD not treated
• Tb (pots, extrapulmonary, ect)
• Diarrhea

Continue to pray!

Update from Daniel Patton

I’m tired. Wrist fracture. 2 ex fix removals for infected pins. Girl with anterior dislocated hip for 5 weeks (wow!) was scheduled for surgical reduction but her surgical incision from previous ruptured doudenal ulcer was full of pus. General surgery washed her abdomen. I hope she survives.

I worked in the ER for much of the afternoon. I diagnosed and managed UTI, Malaria, Uterine bleeding after D&C. It has been a while since I thought about gynecological problems.

A 67 yo lady with A pelvic fracture from the quake came in and I worked her up. I had a great discussion with Haiti radiology technician about the merits of cross table lateral versus judet xrays.

A good translator makes all the difference. I am trying to learn some creol.

Update from David Puder

Day 3 in Haiti: a long day.  ER had a never ending line of both the very sick and also the emotionally sick. Pray for a girl who came in tonight with sepsis from a scabes skin infection gone bad. Pray for rest For our team. Alfonso just said “I have seen more and done more in these three days then in my whole 4th year”.

Scabes? Then infected with staph... Now in respiratory failure

A million words…

Update from Daniel Patton

Day 2

Puder the Tall

Slept like a log. ‘Puder the tall’ wanted to sleep in a tent on the roof but we were informed the roof floods periodically. So my sleep was in the hospital: top floor- on the floor.

Cold shower. 7:30 staff meeting. Granola bar on the way to the OR.

First case: 28 y/o lady with smashed leg from quake. She had pins with an external fixator on her femur and cast on her broken ankle. She was grinning all the way. 4.5 weeks after the injury we fought the scar already forming. SIGN nail(360×8), ORIF fib w 10 hole plate and syndesmotic screw. I was first assist to dr cummings (LLU grad) and scrub tech. Then carried pt to xray on stretcher. Then carried her to post op care.

During the case, Puder the tall filled the OR door displaying a syringe full of pus to request an Ortho washout for a 12 y/o boy. He was our next case.

Followed by an infected wrist that had been fixed a week bofore. Seeing the sanitation makes me wonder how any of our cases will avoid infection after they leave our care. We write the instructions for follow up and wound care right on their casts.

Walking down the steet after the last case w dr cummings we were impressed by the joyful energy of the kids. Kids darting between the tent city that reently became their home. The sight of a camera brought dozens of kids. Neighbors thrown together by disaster.

Kids grow up but they don’t loose their spirit: checking on the morning case: rod down her femur. 8 screws through her ankle. And tough as nails! She had not asked for the pain meds we had perscribed for her all day!! This would not happen in the US.

I’m off to help in the ER.

New Autoclave

Updates from Alfonso Duran, Daniel Patton, and David Puder

From Alfonso Duran:

First day in Haiti…. It’s hard to put in words how the situation is down here (tragic, unfair, sadness, inhumane, terrible, fear and etc). However the people seem so resilient; they have already begun to rebuild their homes, clean up the streets, care for their sick and assist others in need. The Haitians are truly amazing people. I am blessed because I was given the opportunity to work with them as they rebuild their future.

From Daniel Patton:

So first day…

Driving though the city was incredible. Buildings with the family of the dead still crawling over the rubble. Our van overheated we turned off the AC and we overheated.

20 min after arriving at the hospital, I was scrubbed on a foot abcess drain. That was followed by putting a rod down a 95 y/o ladies femur. But first I helped assemble a ventilator for anaesthesia.

The rod was placed without the use of portable xray as is standard in the US. The results are graet. The attendings generously allowed me to perform much of the surgery.

I went to find the other med students in the ER. There was a baby delivered but not breathing, blue. I bagged while the nurse stimulated the infant to cry: blue to pink. “Alfonzo the short” was sowing up a childs head: lots of screaming. “Puder the tall” consulted Ortho (me) for some rib fractures, just to make me feel good.

Then I followed up with my post op patients and xrays. Doing great. Removed a cast and changed fdressing or an ankle fracture case tomorrow. Took sutures out of a boy with likely bone cancer.

It’s 8pm and I just ate my first meal other than cliff bars. Gonna set up my mosquito net and sleep a few hours.

From David Puder:

First day at the hospital in Port-au-Prince, worked all day in the ER! Amazing! Diagnosed malaria, Glyburide induced hypoglycemia with pneumonia (some other hospital also thought he had GERD, but really only pleuritis per history….)  Picture Alfonso Duran yelling, “Check his glucose stat!” Daniel Patton screwed in someone’s femur nail and other fun ortho things. The place has 20 monks preparing a vegan meal for everyone! It is the only hospital still completely free of charge, and it seems we have just enough people to be endlessly busy, but also doing a good job!

The one thing I am blown away with is the Haitians were cleaning up the earthquake rubble, translating for me for free all day, basically going back to work! Some of them would pull out money to pay even, but since everything is donated, it is free! I felt safe going through the streets today, even when our car overheated and we had to get out… The Haitians basically fixed our car before we knew why 10 guys were frantically moving around!

Happy Valentines Day from Haiti

• Brock Cummings, MD Ortho Surgeon
• Everly Lafontant, MD Family Medicine
• Christa Chandy, MD Internal Medicine
• Brook Beck, RN
• Donna Pidder, RN
• Marc Julissme, RN
• Tim Hickman, Supplies & Facilities

• A higher bandwidth Internet connection - Thank you ACTS & High Alert
• A second Autoclave - Thank you Hopeforce
• 3 more LLU Medical Students from the class of 2010
• The LLU/AHI Media Team
• The Maranatha Team of 6 along with their 6 structures to build on the property
• And all the other volunteers that will be heading our way

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allen in Haiti

Hey everyone,

It has been such a blessing to be able to help the Haitian people in their time of need. On Wednesday and Thursday I went out with a mobile clinic. Each day I saw over sixty patients! They range from newborns to the elderly, very sick to doing pretty well. Most patients are coming in with a variety of infections, many of which are likely to the poor living conditions. Over one million Haitians are now homeless. Many don’t even have tents to sleep in yet. It has been very sad to see some patients complaining of hunger pain because they are unable to afford food. There is no pill we can prescribe to fix this. The locals are extremely grateful for the help that we are providing. The Haitian children are beautiful and are very eager to smile if you wave or show them even the smallest smile. There is so much work to be done here both now and for years to come. I can’t urge you all, my classmates, enough to continue helping.

Thank you for your continued prayers,

Allen Patee