Sunday the patients continued to arrive in helos and by road. Doctors from?the French Government field hospital in Port au Prince visited to view our?facility and capabilities. They were very impressed and within an hour 2 of?their helos arrived with 10 patients.??Today the Navy was due to arrive at the hospital to see our capacity and ?capabilities and to co-ordinate efforts going forward.
We are a major player ?in the rescue effort not only because of our expanded facilities, numerous?skilled volunteers and expertise but because we seem to be the first?hospital in the country with a system in place for rehabilitation of?patients into the community. Vision of Hope, a mission 3 miles from Hopital?Sacre Coeur has opened their doors to take our discharged patients (50 so?far) and take care of them until they are ready to return to their?families. Their doctors come to Hopital Sacre Coeur during the day and so?are aware of the needs of each patient when they transfer them to the other?site. This gives us space to take additional critical surgical cases.?? Hopital Sacre Coeur is now posted on the blog of General Fraser of the?Southern Command – http://www.southcom.mil/AppsSC/Blog.php
Here is an excerpt from Dr Steve Fletcher, K.M. who just returned to New?Jersey.??”Well we finally made it back yesterday on a private jet owned by IWorks who ?has apparently donated their entire fleet of two jets and three helicopters ?to Haitian humanitarian efforts. We are exhausted and emotionally drained.?There isn’t one of us who didn’t breakdown at least once during the week.? For the first two days after the urology team left we were it. My guys did?everything from general surgery to orthopedics. Dr. Lovejoy’s team of?orthopedists arrived on Monday and we rapidly expanded the work and the ?hospital. Rick Pitera, our anesthesiologist and K.M. to be in November was?amazing. On his suggestion we converted the little delivery room into a?fully functioning operating room but without OR lights (these are coming).?? We took the three examining rooms across the hall from the OR and converted ?them into procedure rooms complete with oxygen and now monitors so we can?give conscious sedation and do wound washouts, casting and debridements. The? waiting room is now a pre-op area. The patients who need x-ray are now ?transported up the road next to the cemetery through the back gate so they ?no longer go through the hospital. Post op patients are sent across the? street to the school that has now become a temporary hospital. One side is? post-op and the other, on the left as you enter the grounds, is where all? new patients are evaluated and prioritized for x-ray and surgery.
Phillips donated all new state of the art monitors for all of the rooms and?the recovery room and a few for across the street at the school which we now ?call “Hotel Milot” ( I think that was Rick’s idea). None of us really wanted?to leave but it was time. There are so many people doing great work that it?really blows your mind. For our part we hope we helped lay the ground work?for great things to come for Sacre Coeur and Milot. Be well and God bless.”??Support our efforts by donating through our website www.crudem.org or checks?can be sent to? CRUDEM Foundation Inc/Hopital Sacre Coeur? Sewall Street? PO Box 804?Ludlow MA 01056??Our sincere thanks for your support.
