LLU in Haiti

6 Months Later...

2010-07-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

It has been six months since the earthquake and the need still continues. Some experts are predicting that it could take up to 20 years to remove all of the rubble. The U.N. estimates that 1.5 million Haitians are currently living in camps. Loma Linda University and AHI continue their work with Hopital Adventiste d'Haiti.

"Out of the Rubble" premiered at the General Conference session in Atlanta, GA. It will be making it's broadcast premier later this year on KVCR. We're also working on a "Sebastien cut", which will focus more on our friend Sebastien. We're hoping to send that version off to film festivals. Until then please continue to share "Out of the Rubble".

Out of the Rubble from Loma Linda University on Vimeo.

Dr. Nelson goes back to Haiti

2010-05-12T10:48:00.000-07:00

This post was authored by Scott Nelson, Director of Orthopaedics at Hopital Adventiste d'Haiti who returned to HAH on Sunday.

Return To The Mission

After a much needed 2 week hiatus from the chaos of the ongoing disaster relief efforts at Hopital Adventiste d'Haiti I returned yesterday to face the challenges. In spite of several recent events regarding reintegration, sustainability, and international communication breakdowns, today was an especially productive and reassuring day. The clinic was filled with patients, 3 operating rooms ran simultaneously, experts from around the Americas worked busily, and administrative meetings reaffirmed the commitment to our mission of serving those in need.

The acclaimed reputation of our hospital from years past has been restored and enhanced because of the excellent services and long term stability that this hospital has provided to the victims of the earthquake and others with urgent and often neglected medical problems. The inherent institutional political challenges after a tragedy of this magnitude have resulted in the following scenarios at other local institutions:

Well reputed hospitals have had to completely shut down due to lack of income to pay normal operating expenses and repair damaged infrastructure
Attempted survival while refusing the continued expertise of well intentioned foreigners offering free services and destroying the economic norm of local doctors and hospital operations
Completely expatriate operated institutions created by foreign NGO's. Some of which have terminated or diminished services due to difficulty with long term sustainability and rapid turnover of volunteers

A mission hospital is by no means immune to institutional politics. Quite the opposite. Many times they are political hotspots due to factors of finance, religion, communication barriers, racial issues, power struggles and small numbers of people working long hours in adverse conditions. In spite of many "challenges" and the inevitable hospital politics we continue to focus on our mission of serving those in need.

We owe our successes to several unique aspects of our institution. First and foremost is the grace of God who has enabled each one of us to serve here with a mission for our fellow man. Many visitors have been impressed that we have both the Haitian staff and our foreign volunteer staff have working together which they have not seen at many other locations around the city. In spite of the fact that we are the closest major medical facility to the epicenter of the earthquake our building did not suffer any significant damage. Although some pre earthquake deterioration had occurred, we have one of the best facilities in the region and have already accomplished major improvements to the physical plant and upgraded many needed pieces of equipment. The commitment of several long term volunteers combined with the efforts short term experts has allowed capacity, excellent services, and stability. We thank our supporting organizations such as the Adventist church, Loma Linda University, CURE International and other collaborators for financially supporting the operational costs during this time when extra services have been provided for thousands of patients who have no ability to pay.

God is with us.Syringofibroadenoma - Before
26 year old girl who suffered for years with a foul smelling tumor on her R foot is doing well after excision and skin grafting. Thank you to Dr. Dror Paley - surgeon, Dr. Craig Zuppan LLUMC pathologist who provided the diagnosis, and the LEAP plastic surgery team.

Facility Improvements

2010-04-25T19:54:00.000-07:00

The post below was authored by Scott Nelson, MD, Director of Orthopaedic Surgery at Hopital Adventiste d'Haiti. Hopefully this will give donors an idea where their hard earned dollars are being spent.
However, it goes without saying that the needs are great and more funding is needed to further renovate this facility. Please consider donating to the project here.

This post also demonstrates the need for qualified nonmedical volunteers. Please contact LLU Global Health to determine if HAH could use your services.

Volunteers donated US $1 bills to each of the young boys who filled a trash bag with the loose trash that was strewn around the campus. As the donations begin to run out before all the trash was collected the participants were glad to pick up 2 bags per dollar. Our campus is now clean.

Rooms in the southwest wing were never finished after the initial construction phase 5 years ago.

Plumbing fixtures and painting was completed by Dr Peter Nelson and Arpad Soo from San Luis Obispo, CA. The rooms are now ready for patients. We thank the generous donors of Amistad International for the plumbing hardware that was purchased locally as well as in the US.

One of the biggest challenges in preparing these rooms was fixing the sewer system which had been plumbed to drain the toilets onto the front lawn. Arpad, Jerry and crew worked day and night digging trenches around the raw sewage and placing the appropriate drain pipes.

Another peculiarity is why the toilet inflow was plumbed into the hot water pipes. Thank you to the expertise of our plumbing crew and their hard work most of these problems are now resolved.

Arpad worked most nights until after midnight repairing leaks and faucets around the hospital.

This very important sink in which we scrub our hands before surgery now has new foot pedals thanks to a donation from Ferguson Enterprises in Santa Maria, CA. It is important to use high quality materials as the elements are intense and these sinks sustain a high volume of use.

Liz Dickinson, RN, Vice President of Nursing at Loma Linda University Medical Center transformed our operating room with her friend Sylvia. We thank LLUMC and Liz for her hard work and the amazing improvements that were made.

Before this past week, there were still cupboards stuffed with instruments from years past. Liz, Sylvia, and the Haitian nurses sorted through all of them.

Some sterile packaging of unused instruments dated back to 1952.

The "before" shot below of the central sterilization area.

The "after" shot below. The newly painted cupboards are awaiting placement of well organized instruments.

New shelving was placed in the sterilization area after relocating the decontamination sink to a separate room.

In spite of our very low infection rate, measures are being taken to continue to make safety improvements for our OR. This decontamination sink had its faucets and drains replaced this week and it was placed in the decontamination room where instruments will be scrubbed prior to bringing them into the sterilization area for final wrapping.

Peter Nelson, DDS (on the right below) poses with Kyle Fiess of Maranatha. He used this hammer drill to make approximately 60 holes in the 10 inch walls of the southeast wing through which the entire plumbing system will be replaced. Prior to the earthquake the low pressure partially functioning water system delivered water to various plumbing fixtures, many of which were in disrepair. With the installation of a high volume inflow system and increased water pressure many leaks became apparent. This was causing a loss of approximately 7000 gallons of water per day into the walls, foundation, and electrical system of the hospital.

LLU Strategy For Hopital Adventiste d'Haiti

2010-04-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

Loma Linda University (LLU) and its partners are continuing to work to support the Hopital Adventiste d'Haiti in Port-au-Prince. LLU is not alone in these efforts. Together they are pooling their resources and are working closely with Park Ridge Adventist Hospital/AHS, Florida Hospital, CURE International, Life Enhancement Association for People (LEAP), and Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA).

The following strategy update was posted yesterday on the Global Health Institute website.

The need for additional medical teams continues, but as we move forward the composition of these teams will change to reflect current needs at the hospital. Keep in mind the needs change almost daily.
As of April 20, 2010, the "Dream Team" includes:
- 1-2 Orthopaedic Surgeons
- 1 General Surgeon
- 1-2 Anesthesiologists (MDs and CRNAs)
- 1-2 ER Physicians
- 1-2 Pediatricians
- 4-8 RNs of whom 2-4 with OR and ER experience
- 1-2 Physical Therapists and/or Occupational Therapists
- 2 Pharmacists
- 2+ Central Supply Personnel
- 2 Utilities and Maintenance Personnel
We also welcome applications from OB-GYNs, PAs,NPs and other health care professionals. We would like to keep the number of our teams to about 25-30 people on any given week.
The teams will work at the Adventist Hospital.
The current strategy is to send in teams for at least a 9 day cycle (Teams arrive on Friday and leave on Sunday.) A longer term of service is preferred.
LLU will maintain and manage the schedule of the various teams and provide them with information about their trip and tips about what to bring, etc.
Selection and composition of the particular teams will be done with input from all the partners mentioned above in close consultation with the administration at the Adventist Hospital of Haiti. It is very important that we send essential personnel in an organized manner so as to not strain already limited support resources.
LLU and our partners are committed to support our hospital in the months to come. These efforts will build on local available resources under the leadership of Lesly Archer, MD, Medical Director for the Adventist Hospital and supported by Orthopedic Surgeon, Scott Nelson, MD.

Reposted from haitibones.org - thanks Jim

Stateside

2010-04-11T12:35:00.000-07:00

Well if you haven't figured it out yet, I am no longer at the hospital in Haiti, I've been home now for just a little less than two weeks. Coming home has been an emotional roller coaster to say the least. It has been wonderful to be able to see my wife and boys on a daily basis rather than a month or more in between. But it has been very hard to re-inculturate to life in the developed world and all of the daily luxury that we take for granted. It's been even harder to hear of continued and in some cases increased challenges at the hospital and feel so far away and unable to help. That said, I have actually been able to assist the hospital and those working there from afar in a number of different ways since my return to the states. I have spent many hours over the past 10 days meeting and debriefing with AHI management and LLUGHI support staff to try and improve our overall effectiveness in helping the ongoing mission at the hospital. I have also continued work with a number of our partner organizations to foster additional donations of supplies and medical equipment. While I don't know if, or when, I will return to the hospital, I assure you my work there will continue for the foreseeable future.

Loma Linda University and AHI's continued involvement
Early this morning a team of LLU/AHI administration and support staff arrived at Hopital Adventiste for a hospital board meeting and exploratory visit. The team is:

Dr. Richard Hart - President AHI & LLU
Jerry Daly - Asst. VP LLU GHI
Mo O'Reilly - Project Manager GHI
Kenneth Breyer - Asst. VP LLU Construction Services
Nathan Lindsey - Potential Long-term volunteer for HAH

Please keep this team and the entire hospital board in your prayers over the next few days. The issues they will be debating in this board meeting will define the immediate and long-term future of Hopital Adventiste d'Haiti.

This blog and others
I will try to continue to update this blog with news from the hospital, albeit with even less frequency. That said, here are a couple of other blogs from folks currently at the hospital or those that have visited recently:

Cure Caribe by Dr. Scott Nelson - Currently working at HAH

Haitibones by Dr. Jim Matiko - Visited HAH two weeks ago and plans to return soon

DavidinHaiti by David Harris - College student volunteering at HAH spring & summer of 2010

The Translator Tribute

2010-03-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the Hopital. While we continue to see untreated earthquake related trauma from the Jan. 12 quake, we are functioning more like a hospital and less like a disaster response unit every day. We do still have approximately 40 patients outside in tents but, have the entire 2nd floor NE wing devoted to and filled with in-patients. The 1st floor SE wing is also filled with patients in our pre-op and two post-op rooms. At any point in time we are housing about 50 patients inside the main hospital and another 20 or so in the in-patient pediatrics and obstetrics wards in the polyclinic building. We continue to staff and support a very active 24x7 emergency room, as well as OB/GYN, Ortho, and Medicine clinics Monday - Friday. The operating room remains very busy averaging 15 surgical cases per day, 8 - 10 orthopedic/reconstructive, 2 - 3 OB, and the balance general surgical cases. The stream of volunteer medical staff continues to flow into the hospital here thanks to the efforts of our coordinating body at the LLU Global Health Institute.

On Wednesday morning seven of our translators–a group of handsome, strong young men–surprised us at our morning briefing by giving a heart-warming thank-you and tribute. They had it all planned and staged and even had made special wooden plaques that they gave to some of our long term volunteers. The plaques read, "Thank you for helping us in Haiti, together we move." The translators have been a God-send. They are always friendly and eager to help (and their help is much needed). Communication has been a big challenge, since the majority of volunteers speak neither french or creole fluently. Imagine 70 english-speaking volunteers trying to communicate with hundreds of patients, family members and the 100+ Haitian hospital staff on a daily basis–impossible without the devoted help of these really amazing guys.

The O.R. translator team and Dr. Chandy

Thanks all around

OCC Coloring Books in Haiti

2010-03-19T06:21:00.000-07:00

My good friend Irene Naesse, a geography teacher at Orange Coast College (OCC) sent me the following email a little less than a month ago:

I am going to challenge my students to each bring in a coloring book and crayons to send to you in Haiti for the kids. I have about 300 students this semester....so that is a lot of crayolas!

Well about 10 days ago Irene delivered 4 Xerox copy-paper boxes full of coloring books and crayons to my house so my wife Laurel could bring them with her to Haiti this last weekend. While Laurel could not bring them all, she did pack a couple dozen books and crayon sets in with the medical supplies she carried in her luggage. The remaining coloring books and crayons will be carried in by other volunteers heading here over the next few months. Below are some pictures of the OCC coloring books bringing joy and healing to the kids of Haiti.

Merci beaucoup to Irene and the OCC Geography students.

CURE Intl - Orthopedic Excellence

2010-03-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

The quality of the reconstructive surgical program we have today is a direct result of the collaboration with our partner CURE International. CURE is a christian organization that operates nearly a dozen teaching hospitals in developing nations around the world with a focus on surgical treatments for children with disabilities and deformities. Their experience in operating hospitals in the developing world and providing top quality care in challenging environments has been invaluable in our earthquake relief efforts. CURE has provided world renowned experts in reconstructive surgery to serve the needs of earthquake victims. We have developed a reputation in the country of Haiti as a tertiary referral center for a variety of complex orthopedic cases. CURE's Haiti Medical Director Dr. Scott Nelson is also a Loma Linda University School of Medicine clinical faculty and alum.

CURE has had an orthopedic program in Haiti for a number of years prior to January's earthquake. The existence of this program pre-quake benefited us greatly by providing in-country knowledge, experience, and resources. CURE has provided invaluable logistical and supply resources such as:

In-country logistics coordinator (Mr. Phil Hudson)
Air and ground transportation
Shelving units
Orthopedic surgical equipment
Surgical nursing staff from their Dominican hospital
Multiple international volunteer teams
Volunteer coordination (Erin, Heather, Robbie)

L - R Phil Hudson, Dr. Nelson, Loubins Labiche

THANK YOU CURE INTERNATIONAL for all of your help here at the Hopital Adventiste!

Maranatha here at the Hopital

2010-03-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

Maranatha International is here with us at the hospital providing assistance in a couple of different ways. Back in early February Maranatha contacted LLU about the possibility of sending in some volunteers to provide boots on the ground assistance with our work at the hospital. On February 19th six Maranatha volunteers arrived at the hospital for a full six week stay to serve in anyway we needed them to. These six people have been the force behind the amazing transformation of our central supply from the piles of boxes and bags to the well organized HAH Depot Central.

Before

After

L - R Marcello Martinez, Bob Chase, Ashleigh Cohen, Dan Patchin,

Myrlene Honore (not pictured Marilyn Patchin)

In addition to their work in the Depot Central, each of these volunteers has contributed in his or her own special way around the hospital. Ashleigh has served as our base camp manager and also doubles as a social worker helping to find orphans homes and debriefing volunteers on their departure dates. Myrlene has filled many gaps due to her Haitian background and language skills. Bob has used his carpentry skills to build a number of custom shelves in various rooms around the hospital. Marcello has taken on the responsibility for maintaining the oxygen supply in all departments of the hospital managing 16 D and E size bottles and 20 large M tanks. And Dan has served as the Supply Unit Leader for the operations committee.

1 Day Church Structures

Maranatha has also sent in a team to build us 5 of their 1 Day Church Structures to be used anyway we see fit. The first of these has just been completed and is planned to be volunteer housing. Structures number 2 and 3 will be done shortly and will be used as volunteer housing and out patient pediatrics. 4 and 5 will go up next week and will provide shelter for urgent care/triage and an ER expansion.

The Donor's Dollar

2010-03-11T19:10:00.000-08:00

By Dr. Nelson

Disaster relief is typically one of the most inefficient uses of the donor’s dollar. Think about it. Premiums are paid to purchase last minute items, overnight deliveries are made, volunteers are buying last minute air tickets, and extra funds are used for security and support of volunteers in a situation where there is no infrastructure. Due to lack of communication, urgency, and constantly changing needs, heaps of materials arrive that are not always needed. We experienced all of this. (BTW the breast implants and total knee replacement parts that were sent down were not needed at any point during the disaster relief) When the relief efforts are over many of the expensive pieces of donated equipment sit idle, deteriorate or are scavenged. This is not to be critical, many of these factors are uncontrollable and the job has got to be done. It is just the nature of the situation.

At the Hopital Adventiste we are doing a lot more than just disaster relief and because of this, your donations will have much more than just a transient effect. For a short period of time we were buried under the heaps of stuff that was generously provided. But, thanks to Dan and Marilyn Patchin from Portland, OR as well as many other Haitian and American volunteers it is now well organized and we are working efficiently with the needed supplies to offer a top quality level of care to those we serve. The donor’s dollar is also multiplying as we take advantage of synergistic collaborations with other organizations who are interested in our vision for a long term program with the highest of standards. We were very fortunate to receive an autoclave from Hope Force International as well as a portable digital x-ray machine from Americares (see photos).

We thank these organizations for their generosity as well as each and every one of our donors who have generously given. Some of the ongoing weekly expenses that we are currently supporting are:

Diesel $3000 for electricity
Oxygen $600
Transport of equipment and supplies $500
X-ray film and envelopes $750
Housekeeping, maintenance, & repair supplies $1000
Lab supplies $500

One time capital expenses include:

Water main $4000
Translator honorarium (30 people x 6 weeks) $2700
Shelving $5000
Generator parts $1000
Repair of perimeter wall $5000

In addition, payroll is about $42,000USD per month. All our services are currently offered for free. Without an income source this is not easy to come by, but we must pay our employees as they re integrate back into the workforce.

We want to again thank all of you who have contributed. The challenges ahead are great. But with God’s guidance and power we continue to give our all and not get discouraged.

We're making progress

2010-03-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Hopital

Greetings on a beautiful bright and sunny morning here in Haiti. After a quiet weekend of overcast skies, fog, and rain, Monday morning has brought us a cloudless sky and beautiful sunshine. While we continue to face many challenges around the hospital, significant progress is being made and I would like to highlight a few of those areas with some pics.

Patients waiting in the main hallway on a not so mad Monday

Depot Central d'Haiti

Pharmacy stock room

Tent distribution for discharged patients

Thank you all for your prayers and support.

The C-Arm arrives

2010-03-02T07:05:00.000-08:00

Post Authored by Dr. Nelson

It was an emotional moment when our OEC 9600 C-arm arrived today at the Hopital Adventist d'Haiti. It was on the night of Jan 14 just after my arrival in Port au Prince, less than 48 h after the earthquake that I sent Dr. Jim Matiko a brief message that he should start looking for a C-arm and get it down here as quickly as possible. For those of you who do not know - this is a machine that can give us instantaneous radiographic images. Since their inception in the 1970's they have revolutionized orthopaedic surgery. Seeing the magnitude of the orthopaedic problems, and knowing the time involved in making a transaction of this nature I knew it would be important to initiate the process ASAP. Now less than 7 weeks after the 7.0 we will be able to greatly expand our surgical spectrum. We have a 75 year old man named Albert who was admitted 2 days ago with an intertrochanteric hip fracture who will be the first beneficiary of this new technology tomorrow morning. Even before the arrival of this machine we have been able to do procedures available at few other hospitals in Port au Prince. Because of our long history, our current operations and stability as well as our long term vision we are increasingly becoming a center for advanced orthopaedic procedures. Thanks to the Arrowhead Orthopaedic Group and other donors we have now taken a major step towards fulfilling our vision as a center of excellence.

It was quite a task unloading this monolith. The first image taken was a thumbs up of my right hand. The Haitians were amazed by the technology and one said "where ever the Americans are people will live". We also have a beautiful printer to print the images which the patients keep with their medical record for follow up care.

A Sabbath Days Rest

2010-03-01T19:33:00.000-08:00

Scott and I decided to take our first Sabbath off here in Haiti. It seemed that after 6 weeks largely stuck int the hospital, a road trip was in order, so we headed to Jacmel on the southern coast of the island. Jacmel is a quaint little village by the sea with lots of French influence. While there is some earthquake damage in Jacmel it is not nearly as widespread as it is here around Port-au-Prince. The journey there took us up and over some very deforested yet picturesque mountains and through a number of little towns. Below are some of the sights from our trip.

An Adventist Church by the road in Leogane

Leaving the Port-au-Prince basin

Landslide that completely covered the main road

The French influence

The U.S. influence

Jacmel wharf with relief teams in place

Total Destruction

fires burn everywhere in Haiti

We stopped at the Hotel Cyvadier Plage for lunch

The Chief

The I.C.

East of Jacmel, looking towards the D.R.

Everybody's leaving but we're still here

2010-02-24T19:07:00.000-08:00

Hello blog-o-sphere, sorry it's been so long since I've made a post. Seems every time we think things are getting better we are dealt a new deck of cards. We have been as busy as ever here but with new and varying challenges. While post-op ortho cases are gradually being discharged and leaving the property we have been plagued with significant traffic in our ER. To make matters worse it seems that more and more NGOs and government groups alike are ending their Haiti relief missions already. What this means is that our ability to transfer patients out to places that may have resources we don't is dwindling and will soon be gone. Our two best transfer options for critical patients have been the USS Comfort and the University of Miami Field Hospital. Word on the street and confirmed by our own challenges in transferring patients to either, is that both will be ending their missions here in Haiti shortly. By default, we have become the regional trauma center for the entire west side of Port au Prince and most of the communities on the western peninsula. This was never our intent and we are ill equipped for such responsibility but, we will carry on and are committed to the Haitian communities we serve.

Sorry to be cynical but apparently the collective goal of many response agencies working here was to: return Haiti's health care system to the pre-quake state and then go home. Well folks we (LLU and the volunteer groups that have and continue to work here) exceeded that goal just by showing up. The idea that that goal is an acceptable level makes me want to scream. This nation has lost upwards of 225,000 people, almost 1 million of the surviving population are without proper food, water, shelter, or sanitation and somewhere between 7,000 - 10,000 have had limbs amputated, not to mention the huge number of patients with surgically treated injuries. To think that the international community can come here for 6 weeks and then turn their backs is simply unacceptable. LLU is not leaving our work here in Haiti and we continue to need your support. Please if you have the means to help our work, click on the red button at the top of this blog and support our cause.

Aftershocks
We have had two 4.7 aftershocks this week both in the middle of the night. Significant aftershocks continue to be a very real reality here and are detrimental to the already fragile psyche of the Haitian population and our volunteer medical staff. During an aftershock our patients in the hospital all go running and screaming out of the building, many dragging their IVs on the ground or ripping them out all together. This is a major obstacle for us to overcome.

Shelving update
I am pleased to report that we have more than 20 shelving units built and in use in the various operational units around the hospital. We have more shelves being built and more on the way. This one simple thing has radically improved the efficiency of our operation.

BCFS Texas Strike Team
We have been blessed for almost two weeks now to have a group of volunteers from San Antonio Texas here at the hospital with us. This team is a highly trained incident management team (IMT) that have worked in multiple disaster zones such as Hurricanes Katrina, Ike, 9/11 and others. They have helped us implement an Incident Command System (ICS) structure that has dramatically increased the efficiency of our relief effort. We have implemented specific roles that each of us play in order to decrease overlap of duty and maximize productivity. ICS stresses the creation and dissemination of very specific objectives to be completed in each 24 hour period. These objectives are shared twice a day at 7:30AM and 7:30PM in a very structured staff briefing. Overall this system seems to be steering us rapidly towards our goal of resuming normal hospital operations inside the building. Much work remains but ICS has been very helpful in moving us forward.

The Chief and The Commander in their ICS vests

Numbers
70 post-op patients still outside in the tents
15 patients inside the various wards in the main building
21 sick babies
10 pregnant moms waiting to deliver
16 volunteer staff with GI issues in the last week
18 hour work days still the norm for Andrew

Keep Haiti in your prayers and thoughts as much work remains here.

Out of the Rubble - Blog

2010-02-22T19:47:00.000-08:00

Andrew wanted us to let you know about a blog that myself, Michael Wolcott, and Cosmin Cosma have. The blog is called Out of the Rubble and it's a behind the scenes look at the documentary that we're filming based here at Hopital Adventiste d'Haiti. We try and get pictures and small videos up as much as possible.

Organizations Impressed

2010-02-19T17:49:00.000-08:00

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have visited the campus in the last few days. All indications are that when some of the temporary medical facilities leave Haiti, Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti will be the most advanced hospital in the country. Among the many reasons for this is the water filtration system. Once the system is up and running this might be the only hospital in the country to have potable water running through it’s pipes. Another big reason is the condition of the campus, the hospital building is in great shape. Perhaps the most important reason is the relationship between Adventist Health International, Loma Linda University, and Haiti. AHI and LLU have had a presence here in Haiti and they will continue be here in the future. When some of the more advanced medical facilities leave Haiti, this hospital will most likely be the place where critical patients are sent. The Haitian people working along side the volunteers have made tremendous strides since the earthquake making this hospital one that the people of Haiti can turn to in the midst of this crisis.

A million words...

2010-02-17T18:27:00.000-08:00

So if a picture is worth a 1000 words what's a video worth? The video at the link below was shot during my brief visit home and gives you some further insight into our efforts here.

http://www.llu.edu/public-health/haiti.page

Thanks to Cosmin and Michael for the post yesterday. I may need to rely on them even more as it seems things are as busy as ever for me. Besides they take better pictures and do this kind of thing for a living.

Thanks to you all for your continued prayers and support.

New Autoclave

2010-02-16T19:05:00.000-08:00

A quick introduction: I’m Michael Wolcott, myself and Cosmin Cosma from the office of University Relations at LLU are in Haiti for a couple of weeks. From time to time we’ll try and help Andrew out a little by updating this blog.

A new autoclave came to the hospital today. The US Navy and US Army brought it and unloaded it. It was quite a feat and great to see my tax dollars at work. The autoclave will allow the hospital to safely sterilize more equipment.

There’s also word about the shelving that will allow all of the supplies to be organized. It sounds like it might be arriving tomorrow.

We’ve been here for two days and are amazed by the work of the volunteers, a stream of people pour into the hospital and they’re able to see patient after patient day and night.

Happy Valentines Day from Haiti

2010-02-14T17:36:00.000-08:00

We have had a couple of slower days at the Hopital due to the national day (or 3 days) of mourning which was Friday Feb. 12th, one month after the initial earthquake. While patient load has been less there has been plenty of work to be done. We have received so many supplies in the last 3 days that we have filled our 4 supply rooms to capacity, and have started filling up the ramp again. We are still waiting for our shelves but are hopeful some will arrive this coming week.

LLU Team 2 arrived on Friday night and includes:

Brock Cummings, MD Ortho Surgeon
Everly Lafontant, MD Family Medicine
Christa Chandy, MD Internal Medicine
Brook Beck, RN
Donna Pidder, RN
Marc Julissme, RN
Tim Hickman, Supplies & Facilities

While we are excited about each and every one of our volunteers, we are particularly excited about Brook, Christa, and Tim, who have committed to stay here with us for multiple months. Longer volunteer commitments really help us create continuity of service, something we desperately need around here.

Things to look forward to this coming week:

A higher bandwidth Internet connection - Thank you ACTS & High Alert
A second Autoclave - Thank you Hopeforce
3 more LLU Medical Students from the class of 2010
The LLU/AHI Media Team
The Maranatha Team of 6 along with their 6 structures to build on the property
And all the other volunteers that will be heading our way

and now how bout some pics:

CURE Intl. Team 1 heads home

CURE Intl. Team 2 plays with the kids on their first day

A German helicopter lands in front of the ADRA warehouse to take aid supplies to remote camps

We have various accommodations here for our volunteer staff

More volunteer housing

The General Store - supplies left behind for others

The supply ramp full again. It was empty when I returned less than a week ago and now continues on like this another 30 or so feet around the corner.

The supplies are in the ramp because we have 4 supply rooms that look like this.

Please pray for the people of Haiti, our volunteers here, and that we get some shelving this week.

Thanks for reading.

Numbers & Toys

2010-02-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a whirlwind couple of days here. Every night I say to myself tonight you're going to do a blog posting. Unfortunately that conversation usually occurs around 10:30 or 11PM. After a 16-17 hour work day, the pillow tends to overrule the keyboard. So tonight's posting is happening at 9:30PM but is still going to be brief.

Some of you reading the blog have already been here as volunteers and have asked for updates about what we are doing and what our current census is. Well here you go:

Report for yesterday Thursday 2/11/2010
431 New patient visits
57 Admissions
~250 Patients on site
~1000 Total number of people living on the hospital grounds
14 Surgical procedures performed in the indoor O.R.s (STS Graft, 4 ORIF humerus reductions, Hernia repair, Thyroidectomy, Laporotomy, anoplasty, Foot Flap, I&D Subscapular abscess, ORIF Tibia, Leg STSG, Femur ORIF)
8 -10 out-patient surgical procedures performed with IV sedation

And now for those of you who don't have a clue as to what those procedures are...
One of the fun parts of this job is the opportunity to hand deliver gifts from kids in the states to our patients. Here are a few of our kids here as the receive hand made cards from the LLUC Childrens division and a few toys from my boys.

Thank you all for your prayers and your support.

Back at the Hopital

2010-02-09T20:56:00.000-08:00

I am back in Haiti at Hopital Adventiste d'Haiti. There have been many changes here while I was gone. Indeed as I had heard there is now water in the hospital's pipes 24/7. Actually we have too much water right now and the cistern is overflowing, but that should be solved in the morning with the installation of a flow control valve. We also have moved 25 patients back inside the building and our outdoor census is just a little over 200 patients. While we only have 225 patients our daily population on the hospital compound soars to over 1000 with patient family members and our volunteer staff. There is much more to tell but it is getting late and I am tired. Here are a few pics...

Dr. Nelson with a patient in a private room

Surgical transport picking up a patient from our indoor Pre-Op room

More indoor treatment rooms

Even an indoor Post-Op room now

We really need some shelving!

Going back to Haiti

2010-02-07T23:00:00.000-08:00

I am writing this post from LAX while waiting to board a red-eye flight to Miami. From Miami I'll fly to the Dominican Republic where I will overnight at the Nelson home. Early Tuesday morning I will fly back into Port-au-Prince on board the same little yellow Piper Chieftan that got me out of Haiti last Tuesday. While my trip home was brief it was so good to see my family and enjoy a few moments of rest. To say I stopped working while I was home would be a farce. Keeping connected with the work at the hospital, gathering supplies, communicating with the various NGO's and military contacts in Haiti, conference calls, press interviews, and making sure the Florida team met their ride at the PaP airport kept me on the job even if I was in So. Cal.

While leaving my family again after such a short visit is heartbreaking, I am anxious to return to the Hospital and the work waiting for me there. I am carrying in two huge duffel bags filled with surgical supplies, many of which were requested just today. I am looking forward to seeing the progress on the central supply shelving, and the construction of the water main from the 60,000 gallon tank up at the university. I'll be sure to get pics of those soon. Reports from those on the ground at the hospital are of increased organization, and the movement of some patients back into the hospital.

Volunteers - We are thrilled to announce that we have teams of medical personnel scheduled to serve at HAH well into April. If you are interested in volunteering at HAH please visit the LLU Global Outreach website and fill out the volunteer form. LLU Global Outreach is coordinating the volunteer staff for HAH in partnership with Adventist Health International, CURE International, Florida Adventist Hospital, and Park Ridge Adventist Hospital.

Heading home for a few days

2010-02-03T08:06:00.000-08:00

I am writing this post at 35,000 ft above Louisiana. I am heading home for a few days rest, but am planning to return to Haiti and Hopital Adventiste d' Haiti early next week. Jason Wells from the Parkridge team has taken the reins in my absence and is doing an amazing job. The Parkridge team has their own blog that will provide updates until I return to Haiti at: http://parkridgeinhaiti.blogspot.com/

Getting out
Dr. Nelson, Dr. Archer and I made the decision that if I was going to return home, it was better for me to go quickly while Scott and Jason were there to help provide overlap of leadership, thus by mid-day on Monday we started making plans for me to return home. We left the hospital Monday night at 7:30PM for what I thought would be a routine run to the airport to hop a USAF flight out of Port-au-Prince. The USAF have been flying multiple flights a day back to the states for US citizens. This has been the best way out for many of our volunteers for the last week. Sunday night we made a similar run delivering DuWayne Carlson and had confirmation of his arrival in Florida early Monday morning. Upon arrival at the airport, I jumped out of the hospital ambulance said my good byes to Jason and Jim and walked the 300 meters to where I would meet the folks organizing the USAF flights. As I walked up to the I.C.E (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) I got a sick feeling in my stomach which was soon confirmed, NO MORE USAF FLIGHTS. I turned to see the hospital truck driving away in the distance. To say I was in a bad situation would be significant understatement. Not only were there no planned flights, they were no longer letting people into the airport secure area to wait or try and thumb a ride. My options were sleep the night on the curb, run about a mile down a dark and dangerous street to the other end of the airport where the truck was headed to pick up goods, or take a very scary taxi driver up on his offer to "help" me for $20. While I had some contacts written in my book in my backpack I had given my Haiti cell phone to Jason with all of the important contacts in it. I chose to take the western option, fall back on your trusty iPhone. Called Jerry in states, to get Jason's U.S. number... quickly tried to call Jason who was in the truck, no luck. Who else to call? How about email... Jean-Marc, Scott's ultra resourceful french friend here in Haiti, no phone # for Jean-Marc... wait, there, it's the hospital truck driving on the other side of the airport fence... wave the iPhone they might see the light... PRAY... Yes, the truck is slowing... the truck turns my way. While incredibly thankful to not have to spend the night on the ground at the airport curb, I was sooooo bummed. The drive back to the hospital was a solemn one as I considered that my next possible return home would not come until the 20th of February. I got back to the hospital slipped a note under Scott's door telling him I was still there and went to bed.

6AM Tuesday morning Scott knocked on my door, said pack your bags we're getting you home one way or another. "bags" well that was kinda funny since all of my stuff other than my laptop and the clothes I had worn the day before were locked in his room. I grabbed my backpack and we were off. A stop off at the community hospital and a quick call to CURE international and my hope was restored. CURE had a small charter flight of major donors in the air coming from the D.R. that I and two other CURE surgeons might be able to get on to return to the D.R. We jumped back in the car and raced (through horrendous Haiti traffic) to the airport. The procedures at the PAP airport are a new deal everyday you go. Knowing that the plane coming in was small, and that all small international arrivals had been coming to the General Aviation ramp that is where we went to meet it. The plane was supposed to arrive at 9:30 and we made it with 1 min to spare, but there was no plane. By 9:45 we started to get nervous and decided that one of the team had better head to the other part of the airport to see if the plane was there. 10 minutes later he came racing back waving his arms and yelling to get in the truck as the plane was loaded with other passengers and was getting ready to leave. We raced through the international terminal with various security and people wondering what we were doing but we didn't care, got our passports stamped and ran out on the tarmac and into our little plane. 1 hour later we were on the ground in Santo Domingo headed to the CURE hospital for a bite to eat and then to the International airport for flights to the states. An overnight in Florida, I'm currently over Dallas soon to be in landing in Los Angeles. If you see me, take a wide berth, I'm in the same clothes I had on Monday night when I started trying to come home.

Please continue your prayers for our work at the hospital. The situation there continues to be very dynamic, tenuous, dire, and very stressful. I believe we are making a difference there now and can do great things in the future. As always, please continue to give via the donate now button at the top of the page as this is truly the best way you can help the people of Haiti now and for the long term.

And now for some long overdue pictures

(Photo credit: Jason Wells)

The Old SDA Church at the University

The Nelsons in front of the bakery at the university

The new PEDS unit

His only toy

Sharing pictures of my boys with my little friends

A vendor in the Ally behind the hospital

The very hot and humid hospital kitchen

Non-functional hospital laundry

Functional hospital laundry

Heading home

Our ride out of Haiti

Sorry...

2010-02-01T19:33:00.000-08:00

Sorry folks but I've been too busy to even think about the blog. We were without Internet for quite a while today thus had lots of messages to catch up on. Will try and get some pics and text up tomorrow. I miss you all and thank you for your continued support.

The US Armed Forces at HAH

2010-01-29T19:13:00.000-08:00

US Ambassador Thomas Merten sent in the troops today. When the ambassador visited Hopital Adventiste d' Haiti on Wednesday, I asked him for two things a structural inspection of the hospital and bottled water. Well, today just as I was heading to the airport to pick up the Parkridge surgical team, up walked 3 U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to do a full inspection of the facility. While I do not have their final written report, I am happy to report that they say the entire building is safe to occupy and they would allow their own mothers to sleep here in the hospital. This is very encouraging and comforting news.

The USACE Team

While the USACE team was inspecting the building two huge U.S. Marine transport trucks arrived, one full of bottled water and one full of food (MREs). This was a serious boost for our morale as we now have food and water for everyone on the hospital grounds for at least a week.

I said BIG trucks, full of food and water

A long line of volunteer help to move the MREs and water into the hospital

It's hard to believe that it was only 7 days ago that we were moving our patients out of the hospital for fear of significant structural damage to the southwest wing, what a difference a week makes. By the way, the Parkridge team is here safe and sound and were already in the O.R. doing cases this afternoon. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support of our mission here at Hopital Adventiste d' Haiti.

Parkridge team leaving Ft. Pierce FL for Port-au-Prince Haiti

Scroll down for pictures of the 6 babies born here at HAH last night.

1/2 a dozen + babies born last night

2010-01-29T05:47:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update this morning.

Our volunteer team from the Southeastern Florida conference worked through the night and I am happy to report that we have seven newborn babies this morning. All mothers and babies are healthy and recovering well. I will post pictures of our newest little ones this evening. Please keep us in your prayers today as we have lots of work to do.

Apparently there were 7 but these were the 6 available for pictures this morning.

Kids, Facilities, and Departures

2010-01-28T12:20:00.000-08:00

Very busy the last 36 hours but here are a few pics:

Melissa Gregorius Plays with the kids just before departure.

Dr. Mufa shows the wee ones the iPhone

A post-op patient and his family playing cards

Volunteers digging our 8 new latrine ditches

Clearing for our new USAID water treatment plant (visible in the background)

Kay Wilkens (Univ. Texas), The Jobes, Melissa Gregorius on departure day.

The surgical nurse team and Dr. Jesse head home (Myself & Joe Kim LLUSM 2010 on the right)

My roommate who shows himself every once in a while

Again... there are so many people and groups wanting to volunteer their time and skills here at HAH that we have had to setup a management group stateside simply to orchestrate the volunteer groups. We have asked that all volunteers or groups of volunteers wishing to serve here to please contact the LLU Global Health Institute prior to making travel plans. Haiti is going to need volunteer help for a very long time and we will need each of you at some point, just not all at once. Thanks.

Diplomats & the Media

2010-01-26T19:32:00.000-08:00

The Hopital Adventiste d' Haiti was host to some very distinguished quests today. Both the U.S. and French ambassadors to Haiti visited our hospital. Ambassador Kenneth Merten of the United States and Ambassador Didier Le Bret of France arrived shortly after 10 AM. They were both very approachable men and seemed keenly interested in hearing from the people here at HAH. There was a clear theme during their visit, that the collaborative efforts between the French triage team and the American surgical teams has been a wonderful and successful partnership.

Ambassador Merten and I had a number of opportunities to talk as we toured the hospital facility. He expressed his gratitude to all of the volunteer groups here at HAH but especially to Loma Linda University and Adventist Health International for their strategic and long standing relationship with HAH. He indicated that prior to his visit he was already aware of our involvement here and was quite surprised at the success and organization that has been achieved in the two weeks since the disaster. He shared asked if there was anything he could do for us here and offered his direct contact information to facilitate such requests. I've already made contact with him and received back a personalized response and am hopeful that he will help to fulfill some of our critical needs.

Of course along with diplomats come the media. There were multiple film crews and reporters here during the Ambassadors visit today including a crew from The Hope Channel. The Hope Channel crew interviewed both ambassadors, Dr. Chris Jobe, Dr. Honore, Dr. Archer, one of our surgical nurses and myself. The segment should air either Wed. 1/27 at 11:00AM EST or the following Wednesday at the same time. Later in the day I was contacted by a San Bernardino Sun reporter wanting to interview myself and one of the LLU surgeons. So for those of you in the Inland Empire, keep your eyes peeled for an interview with Dr. Jobe and yours truly.

L - R Dr. Lesly Archer, Andrew Haglund, U.S. Ambassador Merten, U.S. Secret Service, French Ambassador Le Bret, Dr. Ely Honore

Front Row L - R Dr. Lesly Archer, U.S. Ambassador Merten, Mrs. Emilie Clotaire, Dr. Patrick (head of the French triage team), French Ambassador Le Bret

Dr. Jobe shocks Ambassador Le Bret when he tells him we have teams headed this way for weeks to come.

The Hope Channel interviews Dr. Archer in the Maternal and Child Health clinic.

Press:

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_482657.html

Friends and Fuel Trucks - A Pictorial

2010-01-25T20:06:00.000-08:00

We've had another set of remarkable days here at Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti. Arrivals, departures, and a drive across town in the daylight, have provided a few pictures that tell some of the story...

Chris Vannucci and Mike Fishell head home in the box truck, the 1st of the LLU team to leave. (not quite the luxury we flew down in)

The 1000 bed, 50 O.R. USS Comfort has arrived and is anchored in the bay off Port-au-Prince. We have been able to transfer several of our most critical patients to the ship.

Total collapse

Much needed fuel has arrived in Haiti.

Destruction

More destruction

Sugar cane for sale above the dump/river.

(the cane was swarming with flys)

The beautiful Haitian children riding the bus.

My friend goes home. Dr. Nelson headed home to the Dominican for a few days of much needed rest but plans to return here to HAH this weekend.

A quick note about our fund raising effort. While I do not have accurate figures to share, I understand that the LLU Haiti Relief fund is doing extremely well. Thank you all so much and please continue to give. The ongoing and long term needs of this facility are great and your monies will help this community immensely.

Lastly, there are so many people and groups wanting to volunteer their time and skills here at HAH that we have had to setup a management group stateside simply to orchestrate the volunteer groups. We have asked that all volunteers or groups of volunteers wishing to serve here to please contact the LLU Global Health Institute prior to making travel plans. Haiti is going to need volunteer help for a very long time and we will need each of you at some point, just not all at once. Thanks.

Sabbath at the Hopital

2010-01-23T20:27:00.000-08:00

We have had an amazing day here at Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti. Sabbath here was rather like a Sabbath at an Adventist campmeeting. Morning services were held and hymns (albeit slightly distorted) were broadcast over our sea of patients in their tents.

We were blessed with the arrival of Dr. Lew Zirkle of Sign foundation an innovator in orthopedic implants for the developing world. With Dr. Zirkle’s assistance and equipment the surgical team tackled our pending femur fracture patients.

Dr. Lew Zirkle and his assistant Jeanne Dillner

Fractured Femurs

We were also excited to have the LLU Public Health Assessment team here at the hospital, with special thanks to the ongoing work of Dr. Ryan Sinclair on our water treatment system. This team is working feverishly to improve the emerging public health crisis at the Seventh-day Adventist university up the street from us where there are approximately 30,000 refugees camped out. (picture of the team in the post below)

Last but not least one of the highlights of the day was the arrival of a Field Operating Room from GlobalMedic of Canada. This inflatable structure combined with the field O.R. Equipment donated by the U.S. military last night, provides us a contingency plan should our in-hospital O.R.s be compromised by future seismic instability. This structure may also be used for a post-op ward at some point. (pictures of the new facility in the post below)

Some pictures from the week

2010-01-23T14:37:00.000-08:00

Wave two of the LLU team arrives (Dr. Chris Jobe far right)

An amputation patient in post op

Our new Sterilizer

Dr. Brad Walter provides post-op care

for an external fixation patient

A day in the O.R.

The U.N. Health cluster meeting

The 8:00AM ACTS volunteer meeting

The LLU Public Health Assessment Team

L - R Walleska Bliss, Dr. Ryan Sinclair, Jesse Bliss
Tiery Osais, Andrea Champlin

Dr. Duwayne Carlson and Dr. Scott Nelson insert a femur pin

Our new inflatable outdoor O.R. tent (thank you GlobalMedic)

A field O.R. kit in pelican cases courtesy of the US Armed Forces

We are staying with our mission

2010-01-22T21:38:00.000-08:00

The executive team of Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti met late on Friday night to decide on a course of action for the hospital. We have had a number of mild to moderate aftershocks and earthquakes in our region and there is mixed information about an increase in seismic activity over the next 36 hours. After careful consideration it was decided to continue on our current course but for the safety of the patients we would move all of them outside the hospital. This actually only affected our pacu and post-op patients from today's late surgeries. These two services were offered in the south west wing of the hospital, the only area of the hospital that was determined by a qualified structural engineer as a potential hazard. Additionally it was recommended but not required that the staff sleep outside. We volunteered to serve these people and we're not going to abandon them in their time of need.

Moving the last of the patients out of the hospital just before midnight

I know I keep promising more pictures and I do have them but I've gotta go to bed. Maybe tomorrow...

Aftershocks cause hospital officials to consider evacuation

2010-01-22T16:18:00.000-08:00

Jerry Daly, Assistant Vice President for Global Outreach at Loma Linda University, spoke with Andrew Haglund this afternoon. He asked that we update the blog on his behalf while he is occupied at Hopital Adventiste d'Haiti. Daly states:

"I just spoke with Andrew Haglund, LLU's logistical person on the ground and was informed that the recent earthquake revealed further structural damage to the hospital. Based on the geological assessments we have received Andrew is working with the US Military to evacuate the hospital. This may change significantly where we work so right now we are asking those interested to standby while we try to understand what is happening at the hospital. We may be moving to a field hospital set up in a completely different location."

The situation remains dynamic and he is exploring options for a possible evacuation of the hospital. Apparently there are conflicting reports regarding the geological assessment so they are taking a precautionary approach and may move some patients and staff outside.

This situation at the hospital will continue to change, but at this point they are not moving out to another facility just yet. It is very difficult to communicate in the city and it is likely that the situation will shift or change in the coming hours.

Thank you everyone for keeping our folks in Haiti in your prayers.

Brief...

2010-01-21T13:11:00.000-08:00

Sorry folks but I've got my fire hat on and I'm fighting wildfires...

Another big aftershock but we and the building are fine
The 2nd team from LLU is here in Haiti and in route to our hospital
The 2nd generator is being repaired
The sterilizer arrived and is being installed UPDATE: IT WORKS!!!!
Trying to open a 4th O.R. room
and we are still saving more people than we are losing

Maybe another post later tonight with a pic or two.

Pics from Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti

2010-01-20T07:33:00.000-08:00

Mid-morning 1/20/2010

The 6.1 aftershock this morning was very strong even for a California boy like me. A general assessment of the structure for any new damage seems to be very encouraging with only a few minor cracks. We then struggled with the generator power system for an hour or two trying to get it operational so that we could start operating. The "engineering" team assures us that one generator will continue to function without issue but the other generator is offline as we wait for parts and support.

Dr. Lesly Archer, Directeur Medical of Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti coordinating in front of the hospital (green scrubs 2nd from left)

There are more than 300 patients (and their families) waiting outside for surgery.

Drs. Tom Moyad, Lijun Wan, and Brad Walter externally fixate a fractured hip.

Morning update

2010-01-20T04:26:00.000-08:00

Big aftershock 6.1 a little after 6AM. Structure still good at SDA hosp. Working to get power back on. Text only until we get power.

Awaken at 4AM by a chorus outside on the lawn singing "what a friend we have in Jesus" These people have amazing faith.

At the Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti

2010-01-19T22:51:00.000-08:00

1:45AM 1/20/2010
Today was a very busy day of travel & logistics. We have made it to the Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti. I can dispel all rumors... The hospital stands and is in remarkably good shape. I actually had to go searching for cracks. Let me tell you this place is a mighty fortress built on the solid rock. While the building is sound there is much work to be done. We were surprised to find a significant number of volunteer doctors and others from the states here organizing and performing triage. There are over 300 patients here on the grounds who need surgery 50 of them urgently.

Aftershock as I’m writing this, please keep us in your prayers. I’d guess it was about a 3.5

The 2 operating rooms are now functioning inside the hospital and they are still using the blue outdoor O.R. as well. Tomorrow we will do some assessment on how we might be able to convert several other rooms into O.R.s.

Haiti is quickly becoming a country of amputees and is going to need significant long term orthopedic care. I have great hope that we can start in that direction but I have a long laundry list of medical equipment I need down here right away in order to keep the amputations to a minimum. While some open fractures can be saved many are requiring amputation, remember we are at day 7 now. The hospital is running on diesel generator power and diesel is running in very short supply and thus very expensive down here. I don’t want to sound too down about our situation because like I said I do have hope but we really need to think long term about how we are going to help these people. We have a great facility here and an opportunity to help one of the most impoverished nations in the world but it is going to take some funding to keep this going. PLEASE if you can, donate to the LLU Haiti relief fund, these people need all the help we can give them right now and for the future.

I promise to post pics of Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti tomorrow, I just did not have light when I got here.

Good chance of a live webcast to the LLU chapel service tomorrow.

A few quick pics

2010-01-19T12:29:00.000-08:00

We found Scott (Haglund, Nelson, Walter)

Heading to surgery

Twins in the neonatal unit

Pre-Op Prayer

We Made it!

2010-01-19T11:45:00.000-08:00

Wave one of the LLU team is on the ground in Port-au-Prince Haiti. Once we are at Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti and I am able to establish a connection I will post more details. Thank you all for your prayers!

Team L - R:
Jeff Douglass Cure Intl., Dave Mitchell SOS Children's Villages, Dr. Mike Fishell LLU , Andrew Haglund LLU, Dr. Brad Walter Cure Intl., Chris Vannucci LLU. Many thanks to Hop-A-Jet and all those who provided the very nice ride from Florida to Haiti, our last luxury for a while.

Wheels up at 0800 1/19

2010-01-18T10:41:00.000-08:00

Quick update...

Marni Nelson reports significant relief got to Scott on Saturday.

Lew Zirkle and his Ortho surgical team should have arrived in PaP last night.

The LLU team has been joined by an Orthopedic Surgeon friend of Scott's, Dr. Brad Walter who has Haiti experience and we are guarenteed to fly in on the Tuesday 8:00AM charter relief flight direct to PaP.

Three members of LLU’s Team are on their way

2010-01-17T20:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the late update to the blog but I’ve been a little busy today finishing up logistics for the team, packing 100+ lbs of surgical gear and packing my personal goods for a trip into a very hostile environment. I am writing this from a terminal in LAX as I wait for a red-eye flight to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. In FLF I will join Mike Fischell (Anesthesiologist) and Christopher Vannnucci (Physician Assistant) both flying in from Las Vegas. We are scheduled to fly from FLF direct to PaP on a donated charter relief flight at 1:00PM eastern, but we’ve heard they are starting to limit even those previously “approved” charter flights. If we don’t fly tomorrow we are guaranteed on a Tuesday flight. The second part of the team will come in on similar fights on Wed or Thurs.

While I have had no direct communication with Scott since 5 AM yesterday morning I did speak several times with Marni. She has also had very limited contact with Scott but indicates that the supplies and team that arrived yesterday did get to him and provided some level of relief to he and his exhausted team.

Fund Raising update:

The LLU Haiti Relief fund has received over $35K since Thursday Jan 14th. We hear there is significantly more in the pipeline. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH and please keep the dollars flowing. Just so you all know, those dollars will go directly to the Haitian people and Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti. Your dollars are NOT funding travel costs or logistics, those costs are being absorbed by LLU, GHI, and AHI. Click here to donate now.

WOW great fund raising news

2010-01-16T18:37:00.000-08:00

Just in...

The LLU Haiti relief fund has brought in more than $25,000 in just 48 hours. This is great but we need those donations to keep flowing. LLU is committed to this project for the long haul which will take dollars. A reminder that these dollars go directly to support Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti in Port-au-Prince for on going medical relief efforts. Please continue to promote the link at www.llu.edu or direct to the LLU Haiti relief page.

LLU Surgical team heading to Haiti

2010-01-16T18:21:00.001-08:00

1/16/2010 6:00PM PST

Christopher Jobe, MD Orthopedic Surgeon

DuWayne Carlson, MD Orthopedic Surgeon

Michael Fishell MD Anesthesiologist

Christopher Vannucci Physician Assistant

Andrew Haglund LLU GIS Specialist, Logistics & Communications

Melanie Jobe LLU Logistics & Language (French)

The bulk of this team will fly out of Ft. Lauderdale Florida on a shared charter relief flight with partner organization Cure International and should arrive in PaP on Monday night. The second wave should arrive late Wednesday. The team will be carrying with them as many surgical supplies as allowed by the charter company. Scott has been instrumental is identifying exact supplies needed based on the cases he is dealing with. This includes surgical saws & drills, medical forms, and disposables.

Good News

Update from Scott’s assistant in the D.R. reports that 4 planes worth of medical supplies and a surgical team has successfully landed in PaP and are on trucks headed to Scott.

News coverage of Scott at Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti

Injured overwhelm Haiti hospital

Early morning report from Dr. Nelson

2010-01-16T05:52:00.000-08:00

1/16/2010 5:15AM PST

Scott reports this morning that he worked most of the night fighting with gangrene and septicemia and much of his work unfortunately was amputations rather than stabilizations. He remains upbeat and is as focused as ever on the mission ahead of him. He is encouraged to hear that reinforcements from LLU and the orthopedic community will be arriving shortly. He was also thrilled to hear that the LLU community was seeing his images and donating via the LLU Haiti relief fund.

For those readers who have been to the Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti, Scott asked me to relay a sad story. The son of the woman in the yellow dress was sadly crushed to death. He apparently was trapped but alive for about 48 hours and the woman in the yellow dress was able to be with him most of that time. During the recovery effort to free him, a crane broke and dropped a large concrete slab crushing him. Scott said that while she was clearly still grieving the woman in the yellow dress was back on duty at Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti.

Dr. Nelson operating at the SDA hospital

2010-01-15T17:55:00.001-08:00

1/15/2010 5:45PM PST

OUTSTANDING NEWS

Just talked with Scott. He made it to Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti in Port-au-Prince today and has started operating. The hospital is in as good or better condition than any other of the half a dozen hospitals he has visited in PaP thus far. Upon arrival he was greeted by Dr. Archer and immediately performed a life-saving amputation. Although the hospital is structurally sound, the Haitians are reluctant to enter and thus an operating suite has been established in the parking lot under a blue tarp. Scott indicates that people are already starting to change their willingness to enter the building and is hopeful they can start operations inside soon. Scott indicates there are weeks worth of orthopedic surgical cases to be done and are literally lying in the streets. He reiterated his statement that he believes he is one of the only surgical teams operating in PaP and will continue to do so until reinforcements arrive.

Dr. Nelson and Dr. Archer send their greetings to the entire SDA church, the LLU community at large and a special greeting to the LLUSM 2010 class. Aside from PRAYER the major request at this time is for donations to go to the
LLU Haiti relief fund.

The road from downtown PaP to diquini where Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti is located

Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti with outdoor operating room

Dr's Archer & Nelson stop to pray in the outdoor O.R. prior to surgery

Satellite imagery acquired 1/14/2010 of Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti with outdoor O.R. visible (blue tarp)

Dr. Scott Nelson is in Port-au-Prince...

2010-01-15T13:59:00.000-08:00

Loma Linda University School of Medicine graduate Dr. Scott Nelson a pediatric orthopedic surgeon is on the ground and already working in Port-au-Prince Haiti (PaP). Within moments after the shaking stopped Scott went to work trying to secure a means of transportation for he and his surgical team to get from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to PaP. I've been on the phone with both he and his wife Marni no less than 20 times and have lost count of the emails in the last 48 hours as we have tried to establish the condition of the SDA hospital and how LLU could support him in PaP.

We (LLU) received post quake satellite imagery late on Wednesday 1/13 which was acquired earlier in the day. After analysis of the imagery it appeared that the SDA facilities survived and were already functioning as a trauma center. Based on that information Scott chartered a private plane to fly he and his team to PaP. Early this morning (1/14) Scott called to say that the PaP airport had been closed to incoming flights but that there was still a chance of getting in and he was going to try. Around noon, while in a Haiti response meeting with Dr. Hart and other LLU VP's my cell rang, it was Scott, in the plane, ready to take off, still not knowing if he would be able to land in PaP. Around 3:30PM I got a call from Marni, the pilot had called her to tell her that they had made it and Scott and team were there and on their way to the hospital. I have just received the following update from Scott:

1/14/2010 7:30PM PST
Hello All,
We were fortunately able to make a landing after circling PAP airport for one hour. They gave our pilot 3 minutes of time to stay on the ground. We were met by a team of people who were waiting for our plane and had good vehicles to take us to assess a couple of hospitals. Most of our equipment was placed on another plane which did not make it today. We found parking lots full of fractures, open wounds, traumatic amputations. The damages are every bit as bad as seen on CNN. Dead bodies are laying on the sidewalks in many places, some have been collected by trucks.

The first hospital we visited was not equipped to do orthopaedic surgery even under normal conditions. We then went to Hopital du la Communitie Haitien a 75 bed community hospital in Freres near Delma. There are many orthopaedic cases filling the parking lot and patio as everyone is too scared to be inside a building. One 3 year old child was about to get his arm amputated by an opthamologist and she was relieved to turn the case over to me. The family was even more relieved to know that we could save the arm. Tomorrow we will do further surgery on him and others. The hospital is not damaged and they have power and running water available. There are 2 OR's that are quite nice. We were not able to visit Hopital Adventiste D'Haiti, but we will try to assess the situation there tomorrow as well as some other locations. We plan to begin operating at the Hopital du la Communitie tomorrow when our equipment arrives. Meantime we will try to team up with some of the rescue teams and stay in touch with the media.

To all those interested volunteers who want to pack goods and work - I do not yet have much of a needs list, but will say that there are orthopaedic injuries of all types and do not hesitate to mobilize your resources. I am trying to identify a several places with at least some minimal infrastructure where we can safely treat people. More soon.

We are being well taken care of.
Scott

Clearly God's hand has been with Scott to get him where he is. Scott has operated in Haiti more than 20 times over the past 5 years and I believe there are very few people better suited to the task he has before him. Clearly he is already saving limbs and lives. Please pray for Scott's continued success and safety and please consider the links below. I will try to keep you up to date as Scott sends updates.

LLU has setup a special fund specifically where donations can be made to support the hospital and Scott’s work:

http://www.llu.edu/news/articles/2010/haiti.page

First post quake satellite imagery acquired 10:30AM 1/13/2010 The imagery of the hospital shows what appear to be an intact structure and a significantly higher number of cars than usual which we believe to be a sign that the hospital is functional. We also consider the lack of people camped out on the surrounding lawns a good sign of the hospitals functionality. The University open areas are clearly being used as a staging area and the buildings look reasonably intact.

Hopital Adventiste D'Haiti

Universite Adventiste d’Haiti