We are now safely back, and are very happy with what we were able to accomplish in terms of patient treatment and continuing to create order out of chaos. The job is far from finished, yet we continued to make significant progress daily in organizing patient care and the hospital. We wanted to take this opportunity to thank our partners in this effort, the physicians and medics of the French Fire and Rescue team. These were both civilian and military professionals. Without their monumental effort, we could not have accomplished what we did in the hospital.
The French team consisted of about 10 physicians and 30 medics under the leadership of Dr. Patrick Benner (top with Melanie and Laura) and his assistant Jacques Nibelle (above). Their gendarmes (military police) provided outdoor security and controlled the entrance to the hospital. Under tarps and tents outdoors, the French medical team triaged all of the incoming patients and provided pre-operative and post-operative care during the day. They were tireless in treating the patients and creating order out of chaos. They constantly revised their organization of their tents for better patient flow. They created zones in "tent city" to help locate patients. "Tent city" was the lawn which housed 500-700 Haitians, under various kinds of blankets, tarps or tents, where the patient recovered from surgery, along with the rest of the family members.
The excellent interaction was a result of effort by both teams. Physicians met three times a day:
7:30 am - hospital team notified arriving French team of what surgical procedures had been done during the past 24 hours.
11:00 am - French team presented to an orthopaedic physician patients for surgery or transfer
5:00 pm - departing French team notified hospital team what was going on in pre-op and post-op, especially patients about whom they had concern. (Jacques leading evening rounds above) (Below, the French team leaving in the evening)
By the time we left, the flow of information regarding patients between the French and hospital was smooth, and patient care consistent.
Zone 4: the least seriously injured
Post op Zone and caregivers
What started as a potential outside OR became the Pre-op tent. A very effective organizational change.
Hi Christopher and Melanie,
ReplyDeleteI know Patrick Benner from the photo above from his visit to India in the early nineties.Its over 20 years since I met him and his wife Christine. Is there a possibility of giving me his email id?
Would be grateful.
My Id: robinjohn3@yahoo.co.in
Robin John, Bangalore, India