Haiti Relief

The earthquake in Haiti is far beyond devastating and the Haitian people continue to be in desperate need of financial and medical/surgical support.

Dr. David Atkin, a Campus affiliated orthopedist has a long history of participating in medical missions all around the world through an organization called Operation Rainbow. With Operation Rainbow, Dr. Atkins volunteered his services to Haiti and shared his experiences with the Campus family of employees.

Dear Campus Family,

I can hardly believe that only 2 weeks has passed since I last wrote. In truth, it feels like a lifetime to me.

Our initial introduction to the hospital in Jimani, on the Dominican border of Haiti, could only be described as “hitting the ground running” as our sixteen member team was quickly integrated into the existing volunteers. Our lead anesthesiologist assessed that he was most needed as the director of a makeshift intensive care unit, our internist, a calm and thoughtful individual, became the medical director, our pediatrician immediately went in search of the children , and the operating room personnel set up our two donated autoclaves (sterilizing units) for surgery. For my part, the outgoing orthopedic team, who had done outstanding work, signed out a service of 250 patients, many severely injured, and 15 surgeries yet to be done that day.

My co-surgeon, a Stanford trained pediatric orthopedist, immediately began operating on the children and I on the adults. His first surgery was Katsana, a 10 year old girl, who had languished for three weeks with a broken hip, and whose surgery was made possible when an operative X-ray unit was delivered from the US the day before we arrived. When she finally crutch-walked on the wards, she challenged all the other children to do the same, and they did. She showed us indomitable spirit and went on to be an inspiration to us all.

As we obtained X-rays on all the patients, we realized the magnitude of the injuries; spine fractures and dislocations, unstable pelvic fractures in pregnant women, and badly displaced femur fractures. We were able to contact the USNS Comfort, and soon thereafter Blackhawk helicopters arrived to bring these patients to modern facilities where they could receive sophisticated and definitive treatment. Our medical director helped prioritize those patients most in need and we all helped evacuate them.

As the days passed, we developed more efficient systems for identifying and treating the injuries. We delved into the social histories of the patients to identify the children who had lost parents and the parents who had lost children. Dr. Karen Makely, our pediatrician, immunized the children and created a pediatric ward where children could be together in a brighter, more cheerful setting.

Her endeavors were accurately chronicled by ABC, and can be viewed here

We were all impressed by the spirit and resilience of our Haitian patients; we knew their names and many of their stories. We can still hear the sound of their voices as they sing hymns in the evenings. For us, as the week ended, we felt that we had not only become better providers, but better people.

The need for orthopedic aid in Haiti will be enormous and we, the members of Operation Rainbow, will be there. Thank you all for your momentous support.
Please help us to continue helping those in Haiti.

Dave M. Atkin M.D.

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