Earthquake Reflections 2-Day 2 After Hour Emergencies.

Monday night ended with ER patients. The first lady brought in, regretfully, to late for us to help. She had been living with friends. The head of the house returned home to find her unresponsive and suspected she had passed on. When he checked a second time he found her body growing cool. The rest of the family didn't believe him so he brought the young lady's body in to confirm her death.

The diagnoses the family believed and stated - her husband [not present] sold her soul to the devil. Other than being over weight- she had no reported or visible medical problems. Her body was carefully placed in a body bag and then back into the vehicle she had arrived in. Very sad.

Following this sad case, a motor vertical accident victim arrived also unresponsive. A fellow worker tried to reach family using the victim's cell phone but needed minutes put on. A phone card soon found it's way to him. The man's breathing as we placed him on a stretcher from the back of the truck testified to the seriousness of his condition. Bleeding from both ears is never a good sign. A chest tube placed in the right side attempted to assist with his collapsed lung but even with the medical care he received his injuries remained beyond our skills. [I can only remember seeing one other chest tube every placed in Haiti]

The man who brought him in remained with him through out the night. His family in Port-au-Prince finally reached with bad news. His body moved from the campus before sunrise on Tuesday morning.

Motor vehicle accidents are the number one killer of visitors from overseas as well as many nationals. No med-evacuations to large trauma centers, no 911 calls for help or speedy ambulances transfers. Following the earthquake [2-4 weeks] I think Haiti had more doctors and medical supplies than ever in her history.

Later in the week a baby would be born with part of his intestines external to his abdomen by a malformation of the abdominal wall. Normally it would of been hard for him to receive good medical care without costing the family. Post-earthquake Haiti however it only took a couple of phone calls.

The first got him into the Notre Dame hospital for a dressing and the second an appointment at the University of Miami's hospital in Port for surgery. The timing and location of his birth opened doors that normally would of remained shut and likely caused his death.