Jacmel Hospital Visit January 24, 2010

Today we visited the only public hospital in Jacmel. All of the patients were laying outdoors under tarps tied to trees and poles with beds lying in close proximity of each other. Some patients had family members next to them, some with no one present. As we walked in we saw ladies with plates of rice and beans topped with macaroni, distributing what we were later told was the only meal of the day that was given to patients, served at around 4PM.

As we walked through the patient laden courtyard we were immediately greeted by a hospital administrator and a teacher who heatedly started to fill us in on the situation at the hospital; we did not have a chance to ask the first question. The men told us that they did not understand why there was so much aid coming in at the port and the only hospital in the town still had not received medical supplies. The men noted that they had heard that milk, tents and medical supplies had arrived but that nothing had been brought to the hospital yet. We looked over and saw what looked like an army tent on the other side of the hospital’s courtyard. We asked the men about this and they told us that they believed that this was probably a Canadian or U.S medical team working independently. They explained that these foreign doctors conducted surgery but that the patients were then sent back to the hospital’s care, but that the hospital seriously lacked adequate medical equipment and the staff to properly care for the patients. The men also told us that there was a group of Cuban doctors on the other side of the hospital. We asked the men where the food that was being served came from and they told us that an organization called PAM had donated the rice, however, the hospital was running out of gas for cooking and that they would probably run out in a day or two. In addition, they mentioned that they had no fuel for the hospital ambulances.

Soon after, we were joined by a doctor who had just delivered a baby under one of the tarps. The doctor noted that it had been a complicated delivery and that among other things, he had lacked a suction pump, but that luckily one of the foreign doctors who happened to be walking by, noticed the problem and brought over a suction pump to help. The doctor said that after delivering the baby he advised the mother that she should see a pediatrician before leaving the hospital in case the baby had caught an infection during childbirth because it may have come into contact with an open abscess that the mother had. The doctor left the mother and newborn to tend to other patients and when he returned she had left with the baby. The doctor does not know if she ever saw a pediatrician, and he explained that since there is a shortage of pediatricians in Jacmel anyway, that it probably would have taken some time and effort to find one and that since most of the nurses did not show up for work today (he did not know why), there was no one to keep the woman from leaving.

The doctor subsequently recounted his experience on the day of the horrific earthquake. He told us that he is a gynecologist and came to the hospital as soon as the earthquake hit on January 12th. He told us that most of the injured that night suffered from broken limbs and needed orthopedic surgery and amputations. Because there were no orthopedic surgeons in Jacmel at the time, he had to conduct many amputations himself, a procedure he had never done before as a gynecologist.

After talking with the doctor and the others, we headed to the hospital pharmacy to donate medical supplies consisting of syringes, surgical kits, surgical masks, soap, blankets and other materials. At the pharmacy we met with two head nurses who permitted us to walk under the tarps to visit patients. We visited with a mother and a baby girl about 6 months old. The baby had been injured in the leg. We noticed that the baby needed a clean diaper, but the mother did not have any, nor did the hospital. The nurse gave the mother some kind of makeshift bandage to serve as a diaper for the evening. We promised the mother we would come back in the morning with diapers.

After assessing our visit, we decided that we could help the patients by providing breakfast. Depending on the food we find in the area on different days, we will bring breakfast to the hospital, which may consist of a variety of bread, milk, bananas, plantains, seasonal fruits such as tangerines and hot cereals. We will be visiting the hospital daily.