En route

Made it to Miami. We have an 8 hr layover, but it's not bad thus far. Emily is a photographer and is showing all of us how to use our cameras properly. I had no idea how much my camera could do. Wow. We've met up with Dan and Deedee now, who live and work in Dessalines. Dan is an internist and has been filling me in on what we're expecting, needs, etc. Lots of wound care needs, amputations, burns, ortho injuries. So what I gather is this is a hospital that was struggling to keep afloat even before the earthquake. Dan works with the staff with A LOT of teaching, but there is poor follow-through. So when he leaves for a while, he returns to find that the staff isn't treating people properly, to put it mildly. The docs and nurses are quite book smart and learn by memorization; can recite knowledge out the ying yang to you, but have virtually NO practical skills. Even with repetitive verbal, demo, and written instruction there is poor follow-through. So, he's wanting us to work closely with hospital staff on education and applying their knowledge into practical skills. I mean even basics. They've just recently been working on teaching staff how to resuscitate a person.

So Dave will teach basic eye exams. I'll focus on therapy. Per Dan, Haitians have NO understanding of therapy; so for example burns just contract up b/c they don't stretch or massage scars or use the extremity in everyday tasks. So patients are left with preventable debilitating deformities. They don't properly take care of basic wounds so amputations or death are common. They have plenty of prosthetics, but Haitians won't wear them b/c no one fits them properly. They have some crutches and wheelchairs, walkers, but don't have a clue how to use them.

Dan reports that now we can have a working OR b/c Eric brought some mega-drill to install an OR light. Whew; we're going back to early day medicine! The hospital has no ventillators and the docs don't want one b/c frankly patients are better off to die. I know that sounds harsh, but the quality of life would be so poor and families would have to squeeze the bag round the clock. Who's gonna do that???

And they've used whatever possible to create tubbings for burn patients. They fashioned a suitcase into a lower extremity whirlpool, dump a small amount of Clorox, and use make-shift paddles to create the current for 15 minutes.

To back up, part of the problem with the staff is they aren't making the hospital theirs. They don't do what's needed to sustain it b/c they view it as only being able to run when Americans are there practicing; if that makes sense. So, it's all well and good for trained Americans to come over (when we can) to help, but the hospital needs the Haitian staff to be more self-sufficient for long-term benefit. This is like OT at it's best!! Ok, so for my OT ladies, don't you know that when Dan was telling me of all the burn needs, my eyes just widened and LIT UP! Oh, I'm so excited. The eye doc and engineer guys about vomited when I described how much I love to debride and crank on stiff joints. BRING IT!! Guess my adrenaline is pumping.

So we'll fly into the DR tonight and stay with friends of Dan and Deedee. It's basically a guesthouse for missionary teams. Then we'll bus to Dessalines in the morning.

Oh, AND Emily figured out that we are bringing approx. $350,000 worth of medical supplies into Haiti!!! Is that not fantastic? So any of you who donated, thank you, thank you. AWESOME!

Unless I think of more to post before this next flight, I won't be back on until we are in Dessalines sometime Tues evening. We are hoping to post pics while we're there too; either on Emily's photo gallery or through my blog. I'll let you know.

Love to all!