Day 1 - Arrived Safe And Sound

Well, technically Day 2 from home, but Day 1 in Haiti.  We all caught the "Red Eye" flight from LAX yesterday evening and flew 4+ hrs to Miami where we had a short layover prior to catching a flight to Port au Prince.  Team members include, from L to R below, Pete Elsissy (ortho resident), Laura Elsissy (teacher), Becky Matiko (nurse), and Zach Hadley (ortho resident).  Not pictured is Kevin Nasseri (anesthesia resident).  David Wood (ortho surgeon) will be joining us later in the week.

The airport, immigration, and customs maze in Port au Prince was tedious.  Moving our gear from the airport entrance to the waiting vehicles was even more of a circus trying to navigate the gauntlet of entrepreneurs hoping to make a buck by assuming even the slightest role in the bag transport.  Incredible sights on the hour drive from the airport to Carrefour where Hopital Adventsite d'Haiti is located.  The pictures I'd seen on news and internet don't adequately convey the magnitude of the devastation.

Scott and Andrew came out of the hospital to greet us, we stowed our gear and got to work with a few easy cases.  Lots of action in the hospital with numerous volunteers in nursing, therapy, plastic surgery, general surgery, emergency medicine and pediatrics...I'm sure that I've missed a few specialists.  One patient that was especially gratifying to see again was a little girl with severe burn contractures that I had first  met over a year ago in Cap Haitien.  Several surgeons, including Duncan Miles, had since worked wonders on her greatly improving her shoulder and hip motion.  We will be skin grafting her again later in the week if we can locate a mesher for the dermatome.

In spite of the many triumphs, tragedy is an all too common scenario here in Haiti.  Earlier today, a young boy presented to the emergency ward in severe septic shock from typhoid fever.  In spite of the heroic efforts of a gifted team leading the resuscitation efforts, the little fellow expired reminding us of the seemingly unbeatable odds, both acute and chronic, the Haitian people have had to face as of late.

More to follow.