At the apex of activities during the quake relief efforts at Hôpital Sacré Coeur, the staff encountered a nine year old boy with respiratory failure. His condition was dire and required the use of a ventilator to sustain life. Although the hospital had the equipment, it did not have a sustainable source of oxygen. The vent would consume one tenth of the hospital’s limited oxygen supply every hour the vent was in use. Without the prospect of replacing this critical resource, the medical team handling the child’s case was faced with unacceptable options. The only possibility of saving the boy was to transport him to the USNS Comfort, a navy hospital ship off the shores of Port au Prince.
When the helicopter arrived to fetch the boy, it was discovered that its limited O2 supply was expended and left. The team rushed the child back into the intensive care unit to return him to the dwindling supply of oxygen. Most unfortunately, he died moments later.
Two anesthesiologists who were present during this crisis, Dr. Alan Gwertzman and Dr. Tim Finley of Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, NJ, decided to take on the shortage of O2 at Hôpital Sacré Coeur as a personal mission. Working with Dr. David Butler the resident CRUDEM board member overseeing relief operations at the time, they contacted OGSI of N. Tonawanda, NY and immediately laid out a plan that would bring the ability to manufacture oxygen to Milot.
Within a few short months, the vision of these three men along with the generosity of Holy Name Medical Center, its employees, Bergen Anesthesia Associates and the collaborative efforts of Burn Advocates, Oxygen Generating Systems, Inc. (OGSI) and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, the first oxygen generator in the North of Haiti was put into operation.
Currently, the Milot facility is producing enough O2 to maintain its demand and sell the surplus to neighboring facilities. The profits from this fledgling enterprise are used to maintain and fuel this life-saving equipment.
