First Impressions

After trucking our luggage down 3 flights of stairs, Adrianne, our driver, promptly arrived at 6:30am to bring us to the Turks airport. He waited for us so we could eat our breakfast. Interesting to eat cereal with warm milk. The label on the box said "longlasting". Tasted fine. No stomach issues reported yet. He was so polite and efficient with our transportation plans. The first glitch of the day was when Adrianne politely handed Matt his cell phone, of which he had left in the van.

The flight to Haiti was beautiful-small puddle jumper of which we took pictures of the propellers. Clear skies and blue water.

It is hard to come up with the right words to describe the city as we drove through it to our hotel. Eddie was our driver and translater. We waited on the back of a small pick up truck with all of our luggage for a while outside of the airport. The children were gathered around begging. Joanne graciously gave them each a piece of gum. That probably wasn't the smartest move right out of the gate. Dr. Sam Broaddus advised that she needed to "steal her herself girl" as it would be the first of many instances. Without him being there to negotiate our way out of the airport with all of our luggage in tact, Matt assured us he would never have been able to do it.

The poverty and streets lined with people was overwhelming. It is unbelievable that they can get up each day and live like they do. They are all impeccably dressed, very proud, and very gracious. There does not seem to be any violence to speak of. Hard to believe considering their situation.

Our hotel accomodations were above and beyond expectations. Konbit Sante really has their act together. They have made major in roads within this community, but it has taken a long time. They have the political savvy and know how.

We then left for Justinian hospital in the back of the same pick up truck with Eddy our driver/interpretor. Got a tour of the "campus" by Nate Nickerson. We received a history of the hospital and how we could acclimate to their culture and medicine in our short week here. We learned very quickly that the most important thing to do was to work in such a way that was accepted and then respected. We could not expect to come in and take over.

Dr. Coq, medical director of the hospital, also met with us to extend his gratitude for our presence and extended his gratitude and appreciation for what Dr. Broaddus, Nate Nickerson, and Cushing have done for their community. We also met with Dr. Pierre-Louis who is the orthopedic surgeon here. He seemed excited to chat with Matt about some difficult cases he has been dealing with, including trying to save limbs rather than amputate.

March and Marietta, our wound care nurses from MMC, had already acclimated to their roles after being here only one full day. We got to see them in action taking down a dressing and very carefully and graciously negotiating with the intern the best way to debride and redress the wound. Language barrier and medicine differences will most certainly be a limiting factor throughout our stay.

Family members are at the bedside and they are integral in the care of the patients, including going out to purchase I.V. fluids, pillows, and medicine. Unbelievable. They are also responsible for their family/patient's nutrition. There is no food service for patients or for health care workers. If someone is alone, then the residents pool their own salary to buy food for the patients. They make $200/month and have not been paid since September. Many of them have lost their families from the earthquake, so any funding they did have is now gone.

So, after the tour of the surgical and medical wards, we then got to see the operating room facility. There are 2 functioning OR's with one minor procedure room. Maria is the head anesthesiologist who was so grateful when we gave her a full suitcase of medicines and surgical supplies. These were promptly put into their storage closet along with many other supply donations they have received since the quake. Maria assured us that she inventories all items in these closets, but it is lacking in organization. Here comes Linda........ We have politely offered our service of organizing their surgical supplies and will do only with the Head OR nurse's approval when she is back on Monday.

Matt was asked to assist with a below the knee amputation. Linda was right there circulating and assessing what was available and what was immediately evident that they needed. Joanne was in the corner, not sure about how things would go seeing an amputation, but transcribed items along the way in the hopes that who ever returns here can bring them back. For example, there was no Gigli Saw so Matt had to use a hand saw to cut through the bone. Dr. Cushing's son Jay, who is an 18 year old senior at Cape Elizabeth was right there with us observing, however, he did get a bit green/gray, but pulled through in the end like only a Cushing could do.

Plan for tomorrow is that Brad Cushing and Matt Camuso will do rounds on the surgical floor with the residents and accompanying nursing staff-us. It will give us a better idea of what needs to be done in the coming week.

We are sitting in the lobby of our hotel drinking much deserved Presidente. Waiting for our meal to arrive. Long and tiring day, however the words to describe the experience is difficult to come up with.

We leave you with our goodnights and know that we are all safe and honored to be here. Our first lesson for evening activities is no citrus lotion- the bugs are loving us!

One last thing, Matt really did finally lose his cell phone, but we are confident that we know where it is and will promptly retrieve in the am.

Love you all!!