2/6/10 Team 3 - Day 1

Our school bus stopped outside the gate, and we jumped out, once again forming a cargo line moving our supplies and bags from the bus to just inside. The drive from Port au Prince airport was bumpy, dusty, with fires burning along the road rubble of the city and dotting the hillsides on our way up into the Mission of Hope village. Even at this late hour, people lined the roads in many areas, and impromtu tent cities appeared and disappeared as we drove by. The devastation was apparent at every turn, its hard to imagine what it was like in the first days and weeks after the initial earthquake

The bus was a far cry and dose of reality from the private 9-seater executive jet that took us from Ft. Lauderdate to the PAP airport. We arrived at the MOH around 11:00, greeted by the mission caretaker Randy, who updated us that we had 16 patients in the "post op" ward of the hospital/clinic, one not expected to make it through the night. Dr. Goldberg informed us, when he met us earlier at the PAP airport, that he had placed 3 patients on NPO status for surgery tomorrow, we will meet them in the morning and make plans for their care.

We are prepared to be flexible, to make a new assessment of the patients here, and the capabilities of our team and the facilities, bright and early in the AM. We are told there is a huge worship celebration in our pavilion at 9:30, we hope to worship together and with the MOH staff as we start the day.

Randy tells us there are still patients in local villages waiting to recieve medical care, and many more who received medical care in the first weeks after the earthquake, who now need follow up care, dressing changes, cast changes, wound care, revision surgeries, medical care. There are 60 children in the orphanage here on the grounds as well. Some of us have brought artwork and pictures from our kids' elementary schools, we will share those things with those children tomorrow, God willing.

Our team, lead orthopedic surgeon Laura Torres, ER docs Adrian and Oscar Martinez, FP doc Bill Stavinoha and his 2nd year medical student son Tyler, husband and wife surgical tech team Mitch and Viviannne Pearson, PT wound care specialist Christina Schneider, and myself, anesthesiologist and pain mgmt, are spread out across a small "courtyard" just inside the gate in small tents, and inside the guesthouse. The accomodations are rustic, but clean and secure, with running water in two bathrooms, and electricity supplied by generators. There is a team of 4 RN's from Canada here, taking the overnight shift in the post op/clinic ward, and a team of additional RN's and a neurosurgeon is expected tomorrow from Miami.

As I type this, I hear trucks in the background, transporting the hundreds of crates of food, from which the MOH will provide 200,000 meals tomorrow. The medical mission here is only a small part of what this place does, providing hundreds of thousands of fresh meals daily to the people of Haiti, day after day after day, is a primary focus.

We praise God for this day and this moment, and for the chance to serve these people, in His name.

Robert Wills, MD

Team #3 in Haiti!

Team 3 arrived in Haiti Saturday evening led by Robert Wills, MD - Austin Pain Associates! They are joined by a group of nurses and a neurosurgeon from Florida.

Members of Team 3:
1. Laura Torres, MD - trauma orthopedic surgeon, Herman Hospital Houston
2. Oscar Martinez, MD - Emergency physician, Dallas
3. Adrian Martinez, MD - Emergency physician, Austin
4. Robert Wills, MD - Anesthesia & pain management, Austin Pain Associates
5. William Stavinoha, MD- Family Practice, Austin
6. Tyler Stavinoha- med student
7. Christina Schneider, PT
8. Mitch Pearson, CST- NAMC
9. Vivianne Pearson, CST

2/6/10 Team 2, Day 8 (Travel Day)

Update:

3 procedures today before return to Austin:

-dressing change under anesthesia on a boy whose foot was amputated (not tolerating dressing changes awake)

-ORIF ankle fracture on a lady (above) who had been walking on her dislocated ankle since the earthquake

-and a reduction of a wrist fracture, dislocation.

An anesthesiologist and CRNA from Tennessee assisted in these cases as they had not been able to find work in town.

Team #3 is on their way to Mission of Hope!

Pictures (courtesy of Dr. Goldberg):
Picture #1: Team 2 says goodbye to the OR. This was previously a lab in the Mission of Hope clinic that was broken apart after the earthquake. Team 1 spent 5 hours cleaning it up and creating a sterile OR - one of the only sterile facilities near Port-au-Prince.

Picture #2: Ankle ORIF

2/5/10 - Team 2, Day 7

Update:

-9 team members headed back to Austin

-Dr. Goldberg, Robert, Jehona and Tim stayed behind to take care of patients in the ward with medical problems. Dr. Goldberg saw patients in the clinic. They organized and prepared for the next team.

-They sent the ambulance in to town to pick up some patient transfers and they brought an anesthesiologist to MOH to join the team until our next team arrives.

-The medical team reports that they are all changed from the experience, loved that Texas Orthopedics, HCBC and other groups at home supported them so much and they are so pleased that they were able to do some good for the Haitian people.

Pictures (courtesy of Dr. Goldberg):

Picture #1: Team members Sharon, Jehona, Kelly, Jan with interpreter Volcy & others at MOH

Picture #2: Sharon Depmore, LVN with Texas Orthopedics dances with the locals

Picture #3: Home on the street

Picture #4: Scottsdale ex fix on femur fracture

Picture #5: Explaining femur fracture to patient

2/4/10 - Team 2 Day 6

Update:
-the team saw 150 patients in clinic

-Dr. Goldberg did one case – repaired both bone forearm fracture

-The nurses had the opportunity to tour town. They visited General Hospital, saw the airport and Palace. They were very appreciative of the break.

-Dr. Crawford spent some time speaking with physicians at the USS Mercy

-Later in the day the group visited an orphanage and spent time talking with and loving on the children there.

-Coming back to Mission of Hope, they heard singing and found that a local praise team was singing to the patients. This lasted for about 20 minutes and it was very beautiful.

Pictures:

Picture #1: Orphanage visit

Picture #2: Praise team singing outside ward

Picture #3: Nursing school, 180 dead

Picture #4: A three story building.

Picture #5: Haiti Presidential Palace

Picture #6: Both bone forearm fracture surgery

2/3/10 - Team 2 - Day 5

Update from Dr. Goldberg

-3 surgery patients on the schedule in the morning: a 3 week old ankle fracture (Dr. Crawford & Dr. Mehta pictured above), amputation revision and wound closure. Dr. Crawford also did a high above knee amputation on a pregnant woman.

-They made a brace for the paraplegic patient mentioned yesterday to be able to sit up.

-The patient whose shoulder was disarticulated and amputated, mentioned yesterday, developed a fever and became anemic. The family members of another patient prayed and sang around him for over 20 minutes. Dr. Goldberg and nurses reported this as an unbelievable sight, shortly thereafter, he became more perky, his fever went down and his face lightened up! A miracle! He seems to be doing really well and is feeding himself.

-Dr. Goldberg spent time contacting the other hospitals in the area to let them know Mission of Hope could take 6-8 patients. General Hospital is only 60% occupied and have many more doctors and nurses than needed. There were no surgical cases to move from there.

-While in the city (Port-au-Prince), Dr. Goldberg was able to see the vast amount of destruction, more than he could put into words. A few pictures above are representative of the disaster befallen the city.

-He mentioned again the amazing team that they have at MOH and the dynamics of Team 2, really working together well. They offer MOH stellar organization and patient care!

-Team 2 will return in two waves, the first group coming home Friday and the second late Saturday night.

Pictures:

Picture #1: Dr. Crawford and Dr. Mehta in surgery.

Picture #2: Child with humeral fracture, splint done at the time of the earthquake.

Picture #3: Haiti is still burning

Picture #4: A picture of the devastation in Port-au-Prince

Dr. Smith's blog

Dr. Smith started a blog to share some of his stories from Haiti.

http://haitimohtxo.blogspot.com/