Akron Ohio Doctors help children in Haiti

Saturday
We spent a few hours away from Saint Damien’s Hospital. Went out to a rural village, Fondwa, which is a 2-hour drive up in the mountains.  

This is the village Sister Judy was living/working in when the earthquake hit. The village was destroyed.  Amazing how roads are still piled with rocks and rubble; buildings still pancaked 6 months later.  Orphanage there destroyed; had housed 58.  Now in Fondwa 68 orphaned kids live in an old pig sty…no light, no windows, dirt floor.  There with 3 nuns, all doing the best they can; surviving. Sister Judy was injured, but survived, although one of the kids and a sister died.  They now spend most of their time outside, though the metal roof gives shelter during rains; tropical storm season beginning. It’s hard to picture it during a big storm.

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Friday

We’ve been so busy, little time to get onto the one computer here that is on the Internet. Thought we’d have “smart phone” access and texting, but it’s Haiti!

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Things are never easy in Haiti.   Here 3 days and finally getting an internet and phone connection.  Very, very intensely hot….Haiti in the summer. Our accomodations are really not bad at all. Military style large tent, on very comfortable padded cots.  Cold water, refreshing showers.

Still lots of international presence here since the quake, but hospital back to its normal volume, trauma over, but malnutrion, typhoid, etc., making a huge impact now.

Sister Judy feels the country and the people have had no time to grieve… they’ve endured…no choice, and are now surviving and numb.

Tuesday (6/8/10)
A patient was seen here from “Doctors without Borders.” Little boy of 6, living in one of their camps. Playing on a roof, fell and hit his head. The call here was that he had “brain coming out.”  There’s only 3 neuosurgeons in all of Haiti, and never one here at this hospital…until yesterday when happened to have a visiting neurosurgeon from Italy arriving!  Kid came here. Looked great, but with depressed skull fracture and laceration.  Went to OR here with the visiting neurosurgeon. Did great, kid smiling and thumbs up to us today.

Wednesday (6/9/10)
Tough, very hot day. First baby of the day died. I saw mom enter the hospital front with a little, very pale looking  4 month infant, had vomiting, diarrhea, fever. The infant died during the first 20 minutes here.  The resuscitation is so different than in our hospital at home. Mom stands right at the bedside, out in the open in a very crowded room, with many other very sick kids and their families. All watch.  Seems as if they are all accustomed to this frequent vision of death and accept…no choice.

This afternoon we met with administators and Haitian doctors about working together in the future. Exciting but very challenging.

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In February, doctors John Pope and Jeff Kempf of Akron Children’s Hospital went to Haiti to assist the doctors at St. Damian’s Hospital in caring for the children devastated by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked Port-au-Prince.

Now it’s the rainy season in Haiti, and the Haitians’ temporary homes are being washed away. The residents are being hit even harder by life-threatening diseases such as malaria and typhoid.

Dr. Kempf is returning with his wife, Ellen, also a pediatric doctor at Akron Children’s, to help care for patients at St. Damian’s and to teach pediatric life support to the Haitian medical staff. They’re also taking as many supplies as they can, such as medications, hygienic supplies and small equipment. Read about their experiences on this blog, as well as sharing.akronchildrens.org.

Please see Linda Golz’s story in the Akron Beacon Journal about the upcoming trip:

Akron doctors’ trip to Haiti latest stop in ongoing mission

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(Editor’s note: Late Sunday, Dr. John Pope texted his wife that he and Dr. Jeff Kempf were across the border and safely in the Dominican Republic.  John said the bus they rode was to be the last to leave Haiti until Wednesday, so they rushed and took it. On Monday, he sent the following e-mail.)

“We will be boarding our plane to Philadelphia soon (from the Dominican) . The plane is painted in Steelers’ colors with their logo on the tail. This is an infringement of my rights as a Browns’ fan. I can’t believe I have to pay to get on this thing!! ”

(In a later e-mail after arriving back in the United States):

“I am going to get a Philly cheesesteak, some fries and a beer!  Beats rice and bread!”

– Dr. John Pope (March 1)

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“Sometimes I feel like I am on the moon here.

Today was a busy day. There were 3 bodies of children killed in the collapse of the school outside the chapel this morning. We helped put them in new body bags before Father Rick blessed them. He will take them to the cemetery for burial later today.

The people here look after all children all the time. They care for them even after they die. It is quite inspiring.

I have had 4 children die in the ICU over 2 days. We usually don’t see that many children die in 2 or 3 months. It is just the way it is here.

I found out this morning that I was covering the whole hospital. I had to go upstairs for a child having trouble breathing. I brought him back to the ICU. Then they asked me to see a 7-year-old with cancer who was in terrible pain. I ordered IV morphine for him and went back down to the ICU. A little later, Chris came to get me because the patient stopped breathing. Fortunately, when I got up there, he was breathing. I think the nurse just gave the morphine too fast. There are all sorts of unintended consequences when you are working in a totally foreign system. The good news is the boy was not in pain any more.

I am waiting for my relief to show up. I will hopefully be done for the rest of the day. Jeff and I are both pretty tired.”

– Dr. John Pope (Feb. 28)

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“It rained last night. I’m sure all those families living under sheets and cardboard are soaked. I can’t imagine how hard that must be, especially on the little children and newborns.

The Haitians just keep fighting, but you hope shelter gets better before the rainy season comes. Otherwise, it will only get worse.”

– Dr. Jeff Kempf (Feb. 28)

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“Both Jeff and I can’t wait to get home.

The people here are wonderful, but we both miss our families and are ready to return home.

I had 2 patients die today. Both had terrible malnutrition and infections. One also had HIV. I felt bad that I couldn’t really talk with both children’s families before or after they died. I knew when each child stopped breathing there was nothing that could be done to help them. I was on my own as I had no Haitian doctor with me today. I did not persist in attempts to resuscitate the children very long, as I knew it would do no good. I think the nurses knew the same thing so were glad it did not go on for a long time.

The death of a child is such a regular occurence for them that they seem to just take it in stride. I am not used to it happening like this back home.

In the cases of both children who died today it was the family members who called out when they knew something was wrong. There are no monitors and not enough nurses to watch the patients closely. There are 3 nurses caring for 10 patients. In Akron it would be a minimum of 6-7 or more nurses caring for the same number of children. Both of the children who died today would probably have survived in the US.

I see that the staff here is eager to do as good a job as they can and are willing to learn new things. This hospital will be here caring for sick children long after all of us go home. I have great hope that with the right help they will only get better in their ability to care for critically ill children. I know there are lots of people back in the States and around the world who are willing to provide that help.”

– Dr. John Pope (Feb. 27)

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“Finished early today.  John had two patients die today. One I admitted on the 18th.”

– Dr. Jeff Kempf (Feb. 26)

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