Wednesday Evening Update from Jay

It has been amazing to see the med center respond as a family. There have been so many e-mails from people I've never met, telling me that they were praying for and pulling for the team. Someone from xray called to let me know contact information about getting a c-arm donated. So many of you have called to ask about donating crutches and money and time.

I just heard one of the most interesting stories about how the med center works together. The general surgery chief resident Jove who is now in Haiti with the team was not originally on our list of names. One of our hospital operators, Bette Ann Epler, knew (as the operators always seem to know so much about all of us-- not just our voices) that Jove was looking to make contact with his father who had landed in Port-au-Prince two hours before the quake hit. When Bette Ann heard that a team was headed to Haiti, she put the two together-- and the team gained one of its most valuable members. Just another example of how our HMC family works together.

NOTE: Tomorrow is chloroquine day-- please remind your loved ones to take their malaria medication-- which should continue weekly for four weeks after returning home.

Jay just called, probably for the last time from Haiti:

Today was the last operative day for the team. In looking back over their time there, Jay says they accomplished their main goal-- establish a beach head for future teams to continue the work they began. Although they were initially questioning whether Fond Parisien was the right place to settle, it's turned out to be a fantastic site to work. The tent city quadrupled in size since their arrival... and now they've set up the beginnings of a real field hospital. Some visitors from some Health and Human Services organization came through today. When the team asked how many other camps are like this in Haiti-- the observers said this is the only site of its kind in the country. There is some discussion about making it a rehab hospital site for a long time to come.

During the first days of their stay, the team was mainly dealing with infected wounds-- so they spent many days working on debridement and dirty wound management. Jay is happy to report that they were able to get a little ahead in that area-- and were able to work in clean wound closures today. The main or today was used for a number of skin grafts. The off-site OR was utilized by Shane Johnson and Jay working together on wound closures as well.

Jay echoes everything Shane said about Jove and Matt. They were the backbone of the team, getting done whatever was delegated to them without complaint, and doing many other jobs without ever being asked. Jove in particular was a great asset in the first few days because he was the only team member to speak Creole. The whole team has been just fantastic.

The plan to return tomorrow is still in place. They were able to arrange for a trip to Port-au-Prince tomorrow morning, returning in the afternoon in time to have four hours to orient the new team and pack up the truck before leaving for the DR. They will be taking domestic flights back to their various destinations in the US.