Guest Post: Day 6 in Haiti (Thursday's report)

As Dr. Royer is in Haiti with the CHRISTUS team, updates on the team’s work there will be posted by the CHRISTUS Communications team in Dallas.

At the end of their sixth day in Haiti, Dr. Royer identified two major themes that resonate with the team’s experiences in Haiti:
1. They have seen the best of times and the worst of times, with both of those extremes being lived out every day to the fullest in terms of the reality of the situation in Haiti
2. The circle of life seems endless each day. They have experienced far more deaths than births, but four babies were delivered on Wednesday evening.

The Operating Room (OR), which prior to our team’s arrival was operating approximately 8 hours a day, is now open 24/7. The team sleeps when possible and when help is needed, they are awakened. A supplier did send in an operating table; previously, the team was performing surgeries on a wooden table topped with mattresses. The lighting situation in the OR is challenging, at best. The light over the OR table is fixed in one position. Therefore, someone has to hold a flashlight for the surgeon and shine it as close as possible to the wound in order for the surgeon to operate accurately. One physician did bring a headlight and he shares that when he is not using it in the OR.

The team has begun running low on anesthesia. Therefore, on Saturday morning, if surgeries cannot be performed, the team will spend what time they have at the camp dressing wounds before getting packed for the return flight home.

The team plans to work through Friday night until 6 a.m. on Saturday and then begin to pack their things for departure. Their load will be much lighter, as many of the team are leaving most of their clothing behind for the Haitians.

The team has obviously gone above and beyond to provide the best care for the patients in the hospital in Port-au-Prince, giving not only of their time and talents, but also their personal comforts for a week to bring hope to a place in the world that is still in need of it.