It’s been non-stop for Simcoe County health care workers since they arrived in Haiti on Sunday, and the team has faced its fair share of difficult decisions.
The Broken Earth team has been aiding doctors at Bernard Mevs Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It’s the main health care facility in a city of 3 million people.
There’s a constant need for care, but poverty continually hinders the hospital’s ability to get ahead of that need.
This is where the Broken Earth team has made an impact. They’ve been able to help with the overflow of patients.
One of those patients is a young a baby boy, who is suffering from an obstructed bowel. After weighing all the options, doctors decided the child needs to undergo surgery.
“If we had a better choice we would have a more complex decision, but with no choice we do the best we can and things often go well,’ says Dr. Jim Campbell.
The surgery was a success, but too much damage was already done. The child was brought to the paediatric ward in critical condition – doctors can now only hope for the best.
“We don't normally take care of babies as small as this in our hospital at home, so it was a challenging case for everybody,” says Dr. Tina Whitty.
An ongoing problem for the hospital is a lack of blood. The shortage has been attributed to blood-borne illnesses like malaria and has made treating trauma patients difficult.
The team will continue to do what they can until they make a return trip to Canada on Saturday.
