Friday-the last full day

I have not read my blog lately, and I can't remember everything I have written, so ignore repeat posts. The days in the hospital here are basically staffed by us from 7 am to 7 pm. We have an ER, OB, and inpatient wing, each with 10-12 beds. We also staff a clinic--essentially a fast-track--for those who do not need to have as much done. Peds checks, wound dressing changes and that sort of thing. More involved cases are seen in the ER. Things like suturing, x-rays, sick people who need IV's or breathing treatments. The clinic is open M-S 8-5, and Sunday 12-5. We have provided two physicians to staff the clinic, as well as a couple of people in wound care. Haitian doctors and nurses rotate through in both areas.

 

Monday, we were SWAMPED in both ER and clinic. Tuesday was pretty busy, by today we were pretty light, so we took off a little bit early. It was pretty cool being there when they brought the food out at 6:00 for a change. We had rice, carrots and green beans, potatos, chicken, and salad. Yum. Thank you ladies.

 

For lunch the last 4 days, I have been eating an egg sandwich for lunch that I buy for $1.00 from a vendor. The sandwich is good, and it will help the economy out some. Plus, I was getting tired of some of the food I brought down. We frequently did not have power over lunch, so I could not heat my food. Several people had them in the past, and everyone survived.

 

We had an interesting case this afternoon. I had been outside and saw a young woman limping toward the hospital. I helped her to the ER and looked at her leg. She had a 2 x 4 inch area on the inside of her leg by her knee that looked like a massive burn. As I examined her, we saw that it was an abrasion that had been covered with charcoal--by her grandmother. After cleaning up the area, which took quite a while, we dressed it properly and put antibiotic on it. We also told her not to let her grandmother do that again.

 

On a really good note, the baby that was premature just before we arrived, and was abandoned by her mother has been declared abandoned and cleared for adoption. Sorry, honey. She has already been placed with one of our Haitian nurses. It will be a great place for her. The nurse is fantastic.

 

Well, I am out of here. They just said we may be having another baby in a while. Hopefully I can get on later and let you know how that turned out.

 

LaMar