2/14/10 – Team 4, Day 1

Update from Diana McKeon, PT wound care on Team 4:

So the devastation in Haiti is great, but the people have such spirit. Today was the last of three days of a national holiday for prayer. No one worked since Thursday. As we Drove through PaP just after noon, churches were letting out and the streets were filled with people in their finest clothes. Nice dressy clothes and I couldn’t believe in all of this dirt and destruction how white the shirts, pants, skirts were. They tell me that’s part of the color of mourning in Haiti. The tents are everywhere along every street. Just outside of town on the way to the mission, we passed a lathe field of dirt at the foot of the mountains. The missionary president, Brad, tells us this is the mass burial site of 170,000 after the earthquake.The mission is nice- not much more rustic than some of the girl scout cabins I have camped in. The food is basic, but man did it hit the spot today! I had chicken salad in a wheat tortilla for lunch and some kind of chicken meatball with beans and rice tonight.I saw two patients this afternoon from a local menonite mission with vacs. Dr. Brannon took a patient to OR for a wound cleanout on her foot. She is about 20 and her foot was crushed under a car tire during the earthquake. Didn’t look like such a bad wound, but all the long bones in her foot are broken. The girl couldn’t bear to have the forefoot amputated, so we will try to heal her wound and let the bones heal as best they can. Sad. We went back down to the clinic to get organized after dinner only to have an emergency show up at our gate- a guy crashed on his motorbike and was all banged up and lost some teeth. I got to help the soca clean up the wounds and we sent him down to our ward to stay overnight. I’m clean in bed now after a cold drizzle of a shower, but it felt fabulous. It’s 11:13 pm and I have a 6:30 am alarm set.

Update from Dr. Smoot:

Day 1 started with lost bags that were later found. As we traveled through PAP to MOH, we passed rubble, trash, and lines of people celebrating national day of prayer. It’s warm and dusty. Patients in the ward are calm despite circumstances. Many patients with neglected fractures and infected wounds. The team is working well together.

Picture: Pt on the freedom vac. She is at the menonite mission close by. She has a stage 3-4 on buttocks. Granulating well. Her name is Lovely. She was trapped under the rubble of the buildings for five days. Her mother was the first person who she saw on her rescue. Dr. Bob wrote about it on the TxOrtho blog. Her name is very fitting. She never complains and smiles when you change her VAC. One tough cookie, and just one example of the resiliency of the people of Haiti.