Videos from Haiti
Friday, Feb. 26, 2010
Operation Smile medical volunteers in Hinche talk about working in Haiti to provide critical surgeries and medical care to earthquake victims. Operation Smile supporter and actor Harrison Ford assisted our relief efforts in personally flying volunteers and medical supplies to our surgical site in Hinche.
Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010
Children play musical chairs at our surgical site in Fond Parisien. It's amazing how much joy these children have after they've been through so much.
Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010
The camp is growing and they are now building a new tent here at Fond Parisien's “Love a Child Earthquake Relief Center.”
Friday, Feb. 19, 2010
I have had the privilege to spend a few weeks in Haiti since the January 12th earthquake. Seeing it all firsthand has been as expected: "earth shattering." It is impossible to imagine how the rubble could ever be removed let alone how the country could possibly rebuild.
I can't fathom what it must have been like in the first moments after total destruction occurred over such an expanse instantaneously. There will never be a way to truly tell what the loss of life was, but I'm sure it was closer to the 500,000 number than the 250,000 often speculated.
The more staggering reality is the number of injured who remain. Unlike so many other disasters world-wide, this has left countless people with crippling injuries they will be burdened with in a situation that at one's best would be an ultimate challenge.
Hundreds of thousands of these people have lost arms and legs and will first need to learn to hope again.
The outpouring of compassion by the world community to this country has been unprecedented and will hopefully be sustained.
There is an opportunity to fill a need that someone smarter, with more contacts and energy than me, like you, may be able to help develop. If you know someone who may know someone who knows someone that may know anything about prosthetic limbs; to develop a vision to create a prosthetics factory funded by the worlds charitable and relief organizations made by Haitian amputees for Haitian amputees, please let me know.
This is a need that will be significant within the next year as these patients' stumps mature and are able to tolerate prosthetics. The need will be ongoing as they will require revision and prosthetic exchange for the rest of their lives, and therefore not just an immediate need but one that will be ongoing for the entirety of this generation.
- Dave Evans, Medical Volunteer in Fond Parisien
Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010
Today we had 14 patients who needed more complicated surgeries that were transported to the USNS Comfort. They will be returning to the camp for follow-up care.
Last night it rained for the first time, which means the rainy season is almost here. The majority of the hospital tents stayed pretty dry, fortunately the ones that received some rain inside their tents were the volunteers and not patients.
Several fiber glass latrines are being built as we prepare for the rainy season as well as a large tent that can fit around 50 patients with cleaning facilities inside.
We are working on getting a system to track the patients that need additional surgeries. However it has become a bit complicated given the quantity of patients in the camp.
Our orthopedic surgeon has done an amazing job and is working long days to make sure that all the cases are screened and preparing the ones that need to be transported to other facilities for care.
Today our team performed 6 surgeries, 3 plastic and 3 orthopedic. Tomorrow we have 4 plastic 2 orthopedic scheduled.
- Ana Gabriela Power, Regional Program Manager, team lead in Fond Parisien
Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010
During the last three days our team has done around 20 cases of orthopedic and plastic surgeries. In addition, our anesthesia team leader is doing regional block anesthesia to control pain, which has been better for the patients. We have 6 cases scheduled for tomorrow. Femurs and hip fractures will be sent to our team working on the USNS Comfort hospital ship for more complicated surgeries.
Today our team cleanned both ORs to make sure we have a sterilized environment at all times.
We have been able to create a system of 3 basic orthopedic trays which will allow to efficiently provide care to our patients.
Below are some stats from the camp as of today:
- 11 triage
- 2 admissions
- 30 ex-fixes
- 40 amputees
- Total of 257 patients in the camp
- No outbreaks of dysentary or upper respiratory infections.
Tomorrow, Debi Smith's wound care protocols will be published by the camp and will hopefully help tackle the concern of wound infection.
We are working on organizing our supplies and integrating it with the central warehouse here at the camp. Look to have it finalized integration by Friday.
Today our Italian team, Dr. Scopelliti and Dr. Spallaccia, came to Fond Parisien and met with our team and the leadership of the camp. They traveled to Port-au-Prince and will do a fact find aboard the Italian Navy ship. On the 19th they will meet with Dr. Marie May Louis Fils (Program Manager in Haiti for Operation Smile) to meet with PIH and head of the university in PAP in charge of patient referals. The main focus will be to identify patients and referals for face trauma and face injuries that can be treated on board the Italian ship.
We also have been learning about the stages of the development of a national plan to address the rehabilitation of injured victims in the short and long run, especially working together with the Haitian leadership. I was able to be part of one of the meetings earlier today and will send more detailed notes.
- Ana Gabriela Power, Regional Program Manager, team lead in Fond Parisien
Monday, Feb. 8, 2010
Children at our surgical camp in Fond Parisien, Haiti, dance and sing with medical volunteers and other victims of the earthquake.
Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010
Video from Operation Smile's surgical site in Fond Parisien, Haiti.
Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010
Operation Smile secured an air-conditioned, sterile operating room yesterday at their medical camp in Fond Parisien, Haiti. So far, Operation Smile's volunteer medical team has provided surgery for 64 Haitians who needed urgent medical care following the earthquake.
- Video by Mark Beers, Senior Program Coordinator
Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010
Meet Carlos and Laura Miranda, from the Dominican Republic, who have been helping Operation Smile's volunteer medical team in Haiti.
- Video by Mark Beers, Senior Program Coordinator
Friday, Jan. 29, 2010
- Video from Mark Beers, Operation Smile's Senior Program Coordinator
Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010
Operation Smile Offers Help in Haiti
