Haiti Update from Dr. Joe Boyle ‘83
Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 5:57PM The following is from an email sent by Joe Boyle, class of 1983, following the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Joe is currently in Haiti helping with relief efforts and has been updating us frequently. Check in tomorrow for updates.
Aid is slowly becoming available for anyone who can watch CNN to know where it is, travel there, wait in line for 18-24 hours, and has a loved one who is loud enough to draw attention.
We have simply driven our truck to a nearby slum, picked up people with obvious wounds and brought them in for care.
This is the model that Heartlinehaiti developed over the years to deliver prenatal care.
The death toll and misery toll have just begun.
Currently there are hundreds of thousands of people in PAP with infected wounds. Many will progress to loss of life or limb. Most could be helped greatly with simple things.
Most of the wounds we are seeing have been bandaged once.
These wonderful people are arriving at our clinic with clean garments and bathed (a mystery to me how they accomplish this). The only filth is the foul stench from the several day old wound dressing and the rotting flesh underneath.
There is a severe lack of communication and understanding about the wound care. Unfortunately, Haitians dying from simple preventable problems is not a new development. It is, I suppose a matter of degree.
I am proud of the work everyone here at the clinic is doing. However there is this.
With us the situation is changed thus; Thousands are progressing daily toward amputation or excruciating death from sepsis-minus a few dozen every day. I am not discouraged in the least by this fact. But it is a fact.
The next wave of misery will fall with the rain.
The sanitation "infrastructure" is badly damaged. Much of the waste flows to the "sewage processing" (ocean) in open canals. These canals have caved in and are badly damaged. It is not difficult to predict what condition the underground concrete drain tubes will be in. The rainy season always overflows and causes some problem. Again, I suppose, a matter of degree.
The spread of disease will take a death toll that will rival or eclipse the immediate toll.
Joe
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