By Rita on March 17 2010, 2:51pm
In the wake of the earthquake that devastated Haiti and wreaked havoc on travel into the country, American Airlines cancelled all flights, including the February 9th flight that was to carry Jacksonville's surgical team to Fond des Blancs. E-mails from Conor Shapiro, Medical Director at St. Boniface Hospital, expressed the need for assistance to help deal with the impact of the influx of patients being transferred from USNS Comfort. Drs. Ron Carzoli and Ken Hagan …
Read more» [0 comments] By Ellen on March 14 2010, 8:29am
Despite how quiet this blog has been, the level of activity here has not abated. Our team has been working long days and weeks covering current needs, like our regular programs, and planning future programs to deal with the long-term effects of the earthquake in our region. On Friday and Saturday, Conor, Dr. Miliane and I made a grueling roadtrip to Jacmel and Port au Prince to meet with several organizations. We met with ACDI/VOCA, Unicef, …
Read more» [0 comments] By Rita on March 10 2010, 12:35pm
Dear Nannette, I just wanted to tell you a brief summary of our wonderful trip to St. Boniface (March 2-7). Our team which consisted of an OT, PT, two computer whizzes, 2 nurses (not including Sandy) and a nurse practitioner accomplished so much in such a short amount of time. Our OT/PT team was phenomenal. They went to work right away doing their magic with the paraplegics and spinal cord injured patients from the USS Comfort. …
Read more» [1 comments] By Ellen on February 28 2010, 9:09am
We have received a few patients from the Comfort who have head injuries. As a result of this they aren't able to eat on their own, so they had PEG (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy) tubes placed. These tubes are placed through the abdominal wall directly into the stomach for patients who will need long-term tube feedings. This is where my clinical experience as a dietitian has been coming in handy. We have limited access to the formulas …
Read more» [2 comments] By Ellen on February 23 2010, 10:57am
Just thought I'd give a snapshot of how our days are here. Here's a list of what's going on while I'm sitting at my computer at 11:00 am: - malnutrition prevention program is underway, which means there are about 100 women waiting by the depot to receive rations for their children. This is a PREVENTION program for families with children under 2 years of age. Once a month they receive some extra food. - Healing Hands …
Read more» [1 comments] By Ellen on February 20 2010, 3:01pm
Saturday we had visitors from the USNS Comfort. Commander Sam Critides, a neurosurgeon, came with a physical therapist, photographer and two soldiers for security. Dr. Critides has operated on several of the patients that we have received from the Comfort. They arrived with some supplies for us and rounded on the patients with our medical director, Dr. Pierre. The patients remembered the wonderful care that Dr. Critides had given them and they were happy …
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