COTN Response Effort in Haiti and the Dominican Republic (UPDATES: 1/19/10)
POSTED ON Jan 19, 2010 / UPDATED ON Jan 22, 2010
COTN–USA staff writer Laura Brost talks with Antonio Jiménez in the triage area of the hospital in Jimani after Antonio had finished working the night shift. (Photo: Scott Cook)
Antonio Jiménez (right) talks with COTN Medical Team leader Dr. Vicki Sakata and COTN–DR staff member Angel Samboy about the needs in the triage area of the hospital, where Vicki is working. (Photo: Scott Cook)
Antonio Jiménez heads back to the triage area to help with logistics and treatments of patients. (Photo: Scott Cook)
(Left to Right) COTN staff and associates Yaneth Gomez, Scott Hampton, Erik Neild, Maria Davidsmeier, Vicki Sakata, and Brandon Bleek discuss medical relief strategies at COTN"s mission house, Casa Bethesda in Barahona (Photo: Scott Cook)
Tents set up for relief workers at the central command compound in Jimani, Dominican Republic on Monday, January 18, 2010. (Photo: Scott Cook)
Haitian children resting in a makeshift recovery room at a Catholic church in Jimani, Dominican Republic on Monday, January 18. (Photo: Scott Cook)
After being moved away from the overcrowded hospital nearby, children are visited daily by local doctors. (Photo: Scott Cook)
The makeshift triage building, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Jimani, Dominican Republic, currently housing 317 patients needing care. (Photo: Scott Cook)
The helicopter, constantly landing, bringing new patients to Good Samaritan Hospital in Jimani. (Photo: Scott Cook)
Rambo, who works for COTN-DR part-time and Juan Luis Ramerez, who has been serving with COTN for the past 14 years as a translator, hold anesthesia machines from COTN's clinic in Barahona, DR as COTN transports them to a hospital two hours away in Jimani.
The Children of the Nations bus parks at the hospital OR entrance to deliver anesthesia machines, oxygen tanks and various other supplies.
COTN-USA staff members Eric Neild and Brandon Bleek along with COTN-DR staff member Angel Pena unload one of the anesthesia machines from the COTN bus into the hospital in Jimani.
COTN's anesthesia machines wait to be used after being delivered to the hospital OR in Jimani, DR on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
Rambo, who works for COTN-DR part-time and Juan Luis Ramerez, who has been serving with COTN for the past 14 years as a translator, carry an oxygen tank into the hospital OR on Tuesday, Jan. 19. The oxygen will be used for the anesthesia machines.
COTN workers from the DR and USA set up much-needed shelving in the makeshift pharmacy in the triage building at the Good Samaritan Hospital. COTN medical team leader Dr. Vicki Sakata called the shelves "a miracle" as they helped organize the medications
COTN-USA staff members Eric Neild and Brandon Bleek carry in supplies to build shelving in the hospital pharmacy in Jimani, DR.
Juan Luis Ramerez translates for COTN medical team leader Dr. Vicky Sakata as she talks to a family of Haitians about the condition of their father. Jimani, DR, Jan. 19.
TUESDAY - January, 19, 2010 (9:40pm)
"Talking with Antonio" by COTN staff writer, Laura Brost
Jimani, Dominican Republic – Today I was able to track down Antonio Jiménez, one of our COTN children who is now in med school. Antonio arrived at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Jimani late last night with a team of 20 doctors and medical staff from the hospital in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic’s capitol. He and the medical staff worked through the night last night, joining COTN medical team leader Dr. Vicki Sakata.
When I spoke with Antonio, it was early evening and in the midst of patients, doctors and an array of activity. He was taking a break from his long shift overnight—he had been working since 9 p.m. the night before. He gave me a little glimpse into what the night looked like. He explained that he assisted a surgeon with many amputations, though there was no anesthesia to give them. He prepared patients for surgery and helped with medications after.
“There are many children—over 300 kids at the OR and many of them have cracked pelvis or hip bones,” Antonio said. “The most critical was a boy who had a roof fall on him and his urine is blood. He’s 13 years old. But we have to have an X-ray in order to operate.”
Though many of these 300 children are recently orphaned—they have somehow made their way to the hospital for treatment—Antonio noticed two specifically who “came by themselves without anyone,” he said. It's a very sad situation.
One problem Antonio talked about was that many of these people were poor before the earthquake so they already lacked good nutrition and certain vitamins, which doesn’t help the body when trying to recover from the trauma these people have experienced.
Antonio will sleep tonight and be back to work for the day shift tomorrow. We will catch up with him then and fill you in on how things are going.
Please donate to COTN's Haiti Earthquake Response Effort TODAY!
TUESDAY - January 19, 2010 (4:20pm)
Highlights of COTN Response Effort in Haiti
For those of you just joining us for the first time, here's a recap:
- A COTN–USA team, including Dr. Vicki Sakata of Seattle, Washington (COTN's acting Medical Director–Haiti Response) has been on the ground in the Dominican Republic (in Jimani, near the border to Haiti) since Sunday.
- Medical supplies, surgical instruments, and medical machinery (including two anesteshia machines) have been relocated from COTN's medical clinic in Barahona to the hospital in Jimani, where thousands of earthquakes victims are coming for medical assistance. A COTN team also help erect shelving and organized medical supplies and medications for the hospital, as the doctors and medical personnnel there did not have the time to do so.
- Over 30 surgeries, primarily amputations, have been performed. There remains a great shortage of IV fluids, oxygen tanks, and morphine. Many surgeries performed without anesthesia.
- Food and water stores from COTN's minsitry site inventory as well as hundreds of additional purchased food rations, hygiene products, and water bottles were delivered to a partner organization in Haiti on Tuesday. Our team, which included local pastors and three COTN–DR board members, delivered the supplies to our partner organization, Feed the Hungry, located in Haiti, who will safely distribute the food throughout Haiti.
- COTN founder and CEO Chris Clark will arrive in the Dominican Republic/Haiti tomorrow to join team.
- Three medical teams (including surgeons, MDs, nurses, anesthesiologists, surgical technicians, etc.) will arrive this week—two tomorrow (Wednesday) and one on Sunday.
- Two COTN–USA board members, Dr. Greg DeSautel of South Dakota and Dr. Dan Diamond of Seattle, Washington are both part of medical teams to the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
- Real Medicine Foundation is partnering with COTN to supply personnel and medical supplies. Representatives from the organization are traveling with Chris Clark and will arrive tomorrow.
- Fashion designer Donna Karan in Manhattan, New York, has chosen Children of the Nations to partner with by making their planes available to us to transport medical staff and supplies. More details to come.
- Many churches in the US are partnering with COTN by organizing SmilePacks™ Drives and gathering medical supplies as well as financial support. Visit our Current Needs List.
- Over $55,000 has been raised toward our response effort.
Your financial partnership is greatly needed! Our response effort will be determined as funding allows.Please donate to COTN's Haiti Earthquake Response Effort TODAY!
TUESDAY - January 19, (3:30pm)
"Good Samaritan Hospital – An Overview" by COTN–USA staff writer Laura Brost
Jimani, Dominican Republic – Surrounded by graceful mountains and a vast grassland, the bright white buildings stand out as a grand presence—especially in the midst of this devastation in Haiti. Usually an eye clinic and a small hospital, the building was built and is supported and staffed by International Medical Alliance, a non-denominational and non-political organization that provides access to medical care in underserved and vulnerable communities through short-term medical mission trips.
Dr. Dorothy Davison seems to run the eye clinic currently. Soon after Haiti’s earthquake, this quiet hospital quickly became a destination for those in dire need of treatment. Dorothy stands about 5 feet tall and by her somewhat calm demeanor, it is obvious she’s lived and worked in the Dominican Republic for quite some time. Keeping her stress level at a minimum, she is grateful for all the help she can get. Her volunteer staff range from young to old and are running a fairly organized operation that goes something like this:
Building #1: Triage—patients enter and wait to be seen by a doctor. If their need is minor (an ER-type case), they are treated there. If they need surgery, they are sent to building #2, first floor.
Building #2: Here, there are six operating rooms that are currently in constant use. After surgery or any other treatments, patients are sent to the outdoor church.
Outdoor Church: A covered area about 100 feet away, where patients recover. Once they are determined okay, they are taken to a refugee camp in Haiti to provide room for others.
The compound area is made up of doctors from all over the world who have somehow come to serve for a period of time. We saw them eating dinner, just out of an operation, preparing to go in, or sitting exhausted from three days of nonstop work. It can be encouraging, but also disheartening as some major surgeries they just don’t have the means to do, such as spinal or hip operations. “So [those] people are just dying,” one surgeon told us today.
Dorothy spoke of the need of a night shift—imagine 300 injured people with no help for eight hours. “Last night was horrible,” she said.
With the makeshift helicopter landing pad "X" painted on the grass out front of the clinic, helicopters land frequently—bringing either those injured from Haiti or doctors to help.
Now, doctors such as our COTN medical team will not only have to face the great number of people, but also the issue of dealing with wounds that are now six days old.
But Dorothy is hopeful—her energy, surely running on adrenaline now, she utilizes to direct and lead people and to continue to get the job done. COTN is eager to join her and her colleagues in this fight.
TUESDAY - January 19, 2010 (2:30pm) (Post by COTN–USA staff writer Laura Brost)
Jimani, Dominican Republic – We set off today for Jimani hoping to get more information on how great the medical need is in this border town. With many doctors and nurses standing by to come help, we wanted to ensure that we find the greatest need and also figure out the logistics of their housing and the feeding of these medical staff in the midst of a city overwhelmed by injured and desperate people. Should we take teams into this town? Should we find a way to transport them to our clinic here in Barahona? It took many conversations and the entire day, but praise God that we found some answers.
Arriving in Jimani, we first stopped at a small hospital in the center area of town. Ambulances were coming and going and people were in and out of the hospital—doctors, nurses, family of the patients. Our group walked through the hospital and were instantly faced with very sick and injured people laying on mattresses spread out on every inch of the floor. We met with a health official who is helping oversee the whole situation in Jimani, asking him, "If we brought 15 doctors, could we be useful here?" Though the need is there, the space is not. No extra operating rooms are open and the small hospital is already overflowing with people.
He told us about a church that has turned into a makeshift pediatric ward—caring for children who have already been treated or operated on, but in major recovery. And he told us about a larger hospital on the edge of town. We left him, hopeful.
The church hall area was filled with mattresses and young children—many with legs or arms in casts, the women caring for them telling them to rest and sleep. About 18 children are staying there now, though more than 76 have come through. Though there is no medical staff permanently here, a doctor comes to check on the children a few times a day and we know that there is a greater, more immediate need elsewhere. We move on to the large hospital.
Good Samaritan Hospital was built and is run by International Medical Alliance, a non-denominational and non-political organization that provides access to medical care in underserved and vulnerable communities through short-term medical mission trips. Normally, the building serves as a small hospital and eye clinic when medical teams visit. The stark, white building, in the middle of nowhere it feels like, quickly turned into a makeshift hospital soon after the earthquake. “They just show up,” one volunteer told us of the number of victims that continue to come for medical help.
Medical teams from Puerto Rico, Peru, Japan, the USA and Spain have converged on this well-organized site to respond to the hundreds of Haitians who have poured in—many of them desperate for serious surgeries such as broken bones, spinal, hip and internal wounds from being crushed by a house or a wall falling on them during the earthquake. Currently there are 318 patients, however with medical teams coming and going, there are never enough doctors, especially for the night shift.
After being greeted by an American med student who was thrilled to hear about the possibility of us bringing more doctors, we were quickly introduced to Dorothy Davison, who helps run the clinic normally and who was also happy to hear of another possible team. As people lay on mattresses outside the arrival area, we quickly realized that the need here was great—and so was the space to perform surgeries—six operating rooms. This is where our COTN medical teams will be working—trying to help save the lives of the hundreds of people here and the many more who will most likely come. Dorothy listed off those who had brought people from Haiti by helicopter directly to the site: the UN, the US Coastguard, the US Army and the Dominican Republic National Reserve.
Our first medical teams are due to arrive either Wednesday or Thursday. As of right now, the plan is for them to go directly to Jimani to work. Beginning already is Dr. Sakata, who was asked out of desperate need today while we were visiting Good Samaritan, if she could stay and work the nightshift tonight. “We still have to fill a few spots,” one medical student said.
She, of course, agreed. So, we’ve left her in Jimani where she’ll work in the building that’s serving as an ER—paving the way for our COTN teams who will soon join her.
TUESDAY - January 19, 2010 (2:05pm)
Jimani, Dominican Republic – Antonio Jiménez, a young man raised through COTN's Village Partnership Program in Algodon, Dominican Republic and currently enrolled in COTN's University Student Program arrived in Jimani (the border town near Haiti) last night with a team of doctors from the hospital in Santo Domingo, the capital city.
Antonio, who is in his final year of medical school, along with other area medical students was requested by the Dominican government to report for duty. Antonio worked through last night assisting a surgeon with many amputations. "There are more than 300 children in this hospital, all with some sort of broken bone or internal injuries," says Antonio. "There is a really big need is for an X-ray machine. Without it, the doctors cannot operate on certain patients and they are just waiting and waiting." It's obvious that Antonio has had a tough night and he's tired, but he says this experience had changed his life and made him see the importance of being a doctor. "I am glad I am able to know how to help in this kind of need," said Antonio. (Reported by Laura Brost, COTN–USA staff writer, currently on the ground in the Dominican Republic.)
Your financial partnership is greatly needed! Our response effort will be determined as funding allows.Please donate to COTN's Haiti Earthquake Response Effort TODAY!
TUESDAY - January 19, 2010 (12:31pm)
Post by COTN–USA staff Writer, Laura Brost
Jimani, Dominican Republic — Our team of COTN–USA and COTN–DR staff just arrived at the hospital in Jimani. Two anesthesia machines from our COTN medical clinic in Barahona have been transported and are being unloaded into the operation room as we speak. Over 30 surgeries have been performed since yesterday and will continue as the need is great. Our team continues to seek out and procure much needed IV fluid and medical supplies from the surrounding communities to deliver to the hospital in Jimani. They have brought shelving from our minsitry center in Barahona to constructed a temporary "medical supply closet."
Two COTN medical teams (40+ doctors and nurses) including 8 surgeons will be arriving tomorrow to provide additional medical support.
One thing that is truly amazing about being here in the aftermath of such a tragedy is the amount of people from all over the world who have traveled hours and hours to be here on their own dollar to help. Just in our short time here so far, we’ve met or heard about a search dog team from Holland, a surgical team from Japan, an emergency team from Spain, a team of 100 doctors from Puerto Rico—and the list goes on: Washington, Tennessee, Peru. It is incredibly encouraging to see the response and the humble efforts of those from every nationality, here simply because they care; because they want to help. For how else would it get done? How else would thousands of people be treated? How else would lost people be found? It is a refreshing reality in a time of tragedy and chaos and devastation.
Please donate to COTN's Haiti Earthquake Response Effort TODAY! Your financial partnership is greatly needed! Our response effort will be determined as funding allows.
TUESDAY - January 19, 2010 (11:09am)
A Message from COTN founders Chris and Debbie Clark...
Dear COTN Partners,
Our hearts have broken this week as we watch the reporting of death and carnage in Haiti. From buried children to children who have now become orphaned as a result of the earthquake. The good news is that help is finally arriving in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. As I write to you I am rushing from Africa to the Dominican Republic to join our team.
COTN has had a team on the ground to assist our Dominican staff for the past three days. We have activated our medical partners and help is rushing to Barahona and the border town of Jimani. Through wonderful miracles, God has provided a way for our staff and volunteers to set up in a place that will bring health back to many. Orthopedic surgeons, general surgeons, MDs and nurses are responding to this disaster that will take years to recover from.
Our hope is to keep you, as our partners, involved with good information as we receive it from the field and our in-country staff. You can presently pray for those on the ground: Dr. Vicki Sakata, acting COTN–USA Medical Director–Haiti Response, who is leading our response to Jimani. Our COTN–USA team on the ground in the DR, who, alongside our COTN–DR staff and board, are assisting to coordinate medical efforts and food/water distribution and also creating a safe environment for our team. And Mark Borsma, former COTN–Malawi board member and his medical team of surgeons that arrived Monday.
We are also blessed by the following teams who have committed to come to the DR over the next weeks: COTN–USA board member Dr. Greg Desautel of South Dakota along with staff and personnel from Sanford Medical Center; COTN partner Janet Larsen, a nurse who has mobilized medical supplies and is leading a medical team from the East Coast; and Pastor Palmer Chinchen of The Grove Church in Arizona.
COTN–USA Board member, Dr. Dan Diamond of Silverdale, Washington has been in Port-au-Prince with Medical Teams International since last Thursday and we have had contact with him as he reports of the carnage there.
As you can well imagine, the city is now filled with hundreds of orphans. COTN has mobilized our staff to implement a plan to care for these children immediately and together we will develop a long-term plan for them, most likely in the Dominican Republic, as we have infrastructure and staff to manage this task. Pray for wisdom and discernment as we make these decisions.
While the personnel mobilization has been amazing, we continue to need your financial support. Donate TODAY to our Haiti Earthquake Response Effort. The logistics of this endeavor are huge. Continue to mobilize your churches clubs, communities and any organizations willing to help us with this task. As you think of relationships that you have that can provide resources, please consider the following needs: Haiti Response - Current Needs List.
We are in dire need of in-country supply connections with organizations that have imported medical and relief supplies. In addition, we desperately need a helicopter or prop plane that can deliver staff, patients, and supplies from key locations to our sites of needs. Contact info@cotni.org for more information.
Visit our website for our most current updates.
Thank you for your care and concern and for acting now on behalf of the thousands that desperately need us.
For Haiti,
Chris and Debbie Clark
Founders – Children of the Nations
TUESDAY - January 19, 2010 (7:45am)
Barahona, Dominican Republic – Though the sudden and immediate needs are of greatest importance right now—keeping someone alive, treating people whereever they are, providing food and water—the complications of such a natural disaster begin to creep in when certain issues arise. One such arose yesterday in our meeting with the health official in the small hospital in Jimani: Who will do follow-up care for these people? They have been treated or operated on, but who is going to continue to check on their recovery when others still face a life-or-death situation?
The other matter that the health official brought up to us touches the heart of COTN—children. COTN–DR head nurse Yaneth Richardson wiped away tears as the official explained that the earthquake happened during the day, when children were in school and away from their parents. Therefore, many children are not only injured, but they are separated from their parents—possibly forever. "We don't know what to do with these children," the official said.
Many came over the border to Jimani with the other injured people looking for help, but even after they've been treated, then what? What do you do with hundreds of new orphans who not only need physical help, but emotional help, too? We are still unsure of how to deal with these two very sad aspects of a very complex and difficult situation,but for now, we continue to fill the immediate needs. The operations continue, and the medical teams keep arriving—COTN will have more medical personnel here on Thursday. (Laura Brost, COTN Staff Writer, reporting on the ground in the Dominican Republic.)
Click here to read past news posts: UPDATES 1/14/10 - 1/18/10
Please donate to COTN's Haiti Earthquake Response Effort TODAY! Your financial partnership is greatly needed! Our response effort will be determined as funding allows.