Haiti is not Hell

Yesterday I went to a meeting with Senator Johanns and two other groups who had also been in Haiti.  During the meeting one of the attendees made the comment that where they were on the Dominican side of the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic was Hell.  I remember thinking to myself that not once did I think of describing Haiti that way.  Despite the fact that downtown Port-au-Prince looked as if a bomb had exploded, despite all the dead and wounded amputees, and despite all the chaos, I never thought to myself, "I'm in Hell."  I have seen nothing worse in my life than the sites I encountered in Haiti, and I still wouldn't qualify Haiti as "Hell on earth" because to me, Hell is a place devoid of all hope. And Haiti, albeit crippled, is a place full of hope, full of promise, full of gratitude for the help received thus far, and full of beautiful people.

 

But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish. Psa 9:18

30 days since the quake marked by 3 days of national mourning

It's been 30 days, and my thoughts are with the patients who left indelible marks upon my heart and the millions who have been affected by the quake and the resulting situation. The little girl I so wanted to bring back to the States with me. The older girl, only 15, who really did think I was her mother every time I gave her ketamine to change her dressings. She would want me to rub her face and hold her hand. So I did. Just like the mother she lost would have. For the girls who no longer have mothers, I cry. For the boys who lost their fathers, I pray. And for the nation that lost so much, I hope.

Pushups for Haiti on Friday

Please sponsor one of several awesome UNMC employees who will be doing pushups in the DOC on Friday to raise funds for the Haiti relief fund (http://nufoundation.org/haiti).

http://app1.unmc.edu/PublicAffairs/TodaySite/sitefiles/today_full.cfm?match=6579

Second wave of volunteers to deploy to Haiti this Thursday

http://app1.unmc.edu/PublicAffairs/TodaySite/sitefiles/today_full.cfm?match=6577

The irony of donations

For each and every donation we were thankful. It was amazing to me what people thought to donate. For example I would never have thought about adult diapers or pop tarts. We had every kind of item one would need to take care of infants from diapers to formula to scalp IV sets. And we had all sorts of pain medications from morphine to percocet to demerol to dilaudid, for which I was extremely thankful to be able to dispense. And in the OR we had our choice of isofluorane or halothane for those few cases where we intubated and used an inhalation anesthetic. But what struck me most was the abundance of propofol in the midst of a national shortage in the United States. I was sure we had more propofol in our hospital than the supply that existed in the entire city of Omaha. And the irony of that fact is that we used very little of it due to the lack of a supply of oxygen.

Pedal to support Haiti on Feb. 12

Pedal to support Haiti on Feb. 12

http://app1.unmc.edu/PublicAffairs/TodaySite/sitefiles/today_full.cfm?match=6561

 

On Feb. 12, Prairie Life Fitness Center at Midtown Crossing will host "Strength for Haiti," an indoor cycling challenge that will raise money for the UNMC Haitian Relief and Outreach Fund.

Volunteer: Haiti needs supplies and continued support

http://app1.unmc.edu/PublicAffairs/TodaySite/sitefiles/today_full.cfm?match=6558

 

Bryan Bader, a trauma nurse from The Nebraska Medical Center, was among 13 members of UNMC's first volunteer deployment to Haiti.