Haiti: After the Fall

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Author(s): 
Terry Treadwell, MD, FACS
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  As you read this, it has been a little more than 7 months since the earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince specifically, and all of Haiti in general. Others in this issue have discussed the immediate disaster, the massive response to it, and the challenges faced by all who chose to go to help. Many wound care providers answered the call and did what they could to relieve the suffering and improve the situation. Their efforts proved invaluable to those who were suffering the most. Time has passed, yet many questions still remain: what is going on now? Has anything changed in 7 months? Is the country rebuilding? What is the state of the medical facilities in Port-au-Prince?

The situation seemed to stabilize after the disaster, and local physicians, nurses, physical therapists, and other healthcare professionals were providing more health care. It soon became apparent that they were in need of additional training if they were going to be able to manage the high volume of patients with wounds. The Minister of Health in Haiti and the Medical Association of Haiti contacted the World Association of Wound and Lymphedema Care (WAWLC) to present a wound care educational and training program for the Haitian healthcare providers. The Secretariat of the WAWLC is Dr. John Macdonald and the President is Dr. David Keast of Canada. The program was scheduled for July 7–9, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
  Since I had assisted with our similar program in Ghana, Africa, I was asked to determine the curriculum for the course. I quickly realized that the curriculum needed revision since the Haitians needed much more help with managing acute wounds and the long-term care of complications of acute wounds than did the Ghanaians. They would obviously still need the instruction in the care of chronic wounds, but their current need centered around acute wound management. Once the topics were selected, the faculty was chosen and included: Barbara Bates-Jensen, PhD, RN, from California, Ms. Janice Young, RN, from Texas, Dr. John Macdonald, from Florida, and me.
  We spent our July 4th holiday working our way from home to Port-au-Prince, arriving on Monday, July 5. As we were being driven from the airport to the place where we were to stay, we were amazed—it looked as if the earthquake could have been the day before. Streets were still blocked with rubble, many collapsed buildings seemed untouched, tent cities were everywhere, and yet people seemed to be going ahead with life as usual, walking around the mess as if it were normal (Figures 1–3). There appeared to be very few organized efforts to clean up.
  We were honored to be hosted in a private home, which had suffered minor damage but was livable. Our hosts went above and beyond the call of duty to see that we were comfortable despite some “less than optimal” circumstances.
  After unloading our wares, we were taken to the Mevs Hospital in Port-au-Prince to assess the current situation. The University of Miami and Project Medishare were helping to staff and manage the hospital. The treatment areas were very crowded with patients and healthcare providers, but all were trying to do what they could to relieve suffering. The wound care center was a small building crowded with patients (Figure 4). There were only 2 treatment areas in the small building. As soon as I walked in, a young lady, whom I later found out was a medical student, asked me to look at a baby girl with a thigh wound. She asked me what to do with the wound even though it appeared to be healed. The parents of the child were concerned because of a hard “mass” under the scar.