Members of Santiam Memorial Hospital’s medical team to Haiti include, back row from left: Debbie Turrell, RN; Dr. Lori Borella; Dr. Paul Neumann; Dr. Guesly Dessieux; Dr. Dean Yeager; front row from left: Clark Yoder, RN; Adam Maurer, Paramedic. Team members not pictured: Genny Baldwin, RN, and Juanita Culver, RN.

Haiti Updates

I am grateful for the sacrifices that were made to give us the opportunity to serve others. Keep us in all your prayers and keep the Haitian people in your prayers, as this is only the beginning to a long recovery.
— Dr. Guesly Dessieux

It is truly a blessing that the community circling us was able to send our team to care for our Haitian neighbors. All those who helped to send us here should be aware of the incredible difference their money makes—every dollar. People should also remember that the recovery for these people is only beginning. We will be leaving in five days but the work will not be finished yet.
— Dr. Paul Neumann

Dr. Dessieux is leading a team of 18 doctors and medical professionals on a 10 day trip to Haiti to provide medical relief. Nine of this team are from Santiam Memorial Hospital and the rest are from different parts of the United States, (including Dr. Dessieux’s brother and sister also in the medical field). While Doctors Dessieux and Neumann are in Haiti their clinic will remain open, with Ann Gould, PA-C and Kathleen Thurman, FNP continuing patient care. Many people have asked how they can help support this group. Donations are still being accepted. You can send your tax deductible donation to:

Santiam Memorial Clinic FBO Haitian Relief Fund
1401 North 10th, Stayton, OR 97383

Here is one very sweet donation story we've all appreciated:
Dr. Neumann had told a 7-year-old that $5 buys a course of antibiotics that will save someone’s life. This boy went to each member of the family asking “Did you know that you can save 1 whole person in Haiti for only $5! Mom, can I give $5?”. To this his mom says “Sure, it’s your money if that’s how you want to spend it that’s great”. He replied, “Well it’s not like I ever got to save someone’s life before!!”.

Saturday, January 23rd-24th
The Oregon team members left Portland at 6:00 a.m. and arrived into Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic early morning, Sunday the 24th. After gathering some supplies, and leaving Dr. Dessieux behind to meet the second part of the group, they drove overland to the Haitian Christian Mission Clinic located in Fonds Parisien, 15–20 miles (45 minute drive) from Port-au-Prince. The team arrived around 6:00 p.m. and started seeing patients right away. Finally after some 30 hours they were able to get some much needed rest.

Monday, January 25th
Dr. Dessieux’s and the second group arrived this morning and the whole team has been busy seeing patients. At the end of the day the clinic has seen more than 200 patients. Tomorrow there are plans to bring out a School Bus and offer transportation to and from Port-au-Prince. All the team members are doing well.

Tuesday, January 26th
Here are some excerpts from one of Dr. Neumann’s e-mails.

“Its almost 7 am here and the front waiting area is full of people waiting to be seen. We have some really sick people, some from the earthquake and others with routine stuff. ... Our first patient of the day yesterday passed about 15 minutes after arrival. We did not have any resuscitation equipment.

Part of our staff is going to Jimini (across the border in DR) where they literally have HUNDREDS of patients ‘hospitalized’ in tents outside in the fields. ... There is a very huge need for PHYSICAL THERAPY. There are dozens of partial amputees recovering that need instruction. There is going to be a need for a long time here.

Spirits are good here... and apart from some fatigue doing well. We have an excellent team of people. Most of the staff is sleeping outside on a porch.

Thanks to our community for making this care possible. There is a huge need here. We will probably start sending teams into the city tomorrow.

All the patients I have seen have been affected directly or indirectly affected by the earthquake—frequently patients will bring out small crumpled pictures of aunts, cousins, nephews or spouses. We had a young mom with a six-week-old whose husband died. The stress dried her milk and the baby was dying. The baby got the care. I see many people a day, some old, some young who have stopped sleeping, stopped eating. I counsel as we can. We pray as we can and I have only benadryl to provide for a sleep aid.”

We also have word from Dr. Dessieux that today the half of the team that stayed behind at the clinic saw over 300 people today and they experienced two aftershocks. They stop seeing patients, except emergencies and babies, at nightfall. They plan on tomorrow being even busier now that more people know they are there. The team is all fine, safe and tired.

Wednesday, January 27th
We estimate the team saw 400–500 people today. The team has been seeing a lot of earthquake related injuries and secondary issues such as respiratory disease due to sleeping on the ground and dust inhalation. Two of the interpreters that are working with the team have lost everything and are still wearing the same clothes from the day of the first earthquake.

Here is an excerpt from a team member e-mail:

“Today we had another quake after the one in the night and two yesterday. It is amazing how fast people will leave the buildings. We had a lady with a broken pelvis RUN out of the clinic building yesterday. Earthquakes take a building that makes you feel safe from the weather and outside and makes you feel afraid to be inside... Most of my patients are displaced and sleeping outside on the ground—everything from new babies to octogenarians...We don’t have crutches, physical therapy or many local nurses trained in wound care.

The people here are so kind and very appreciative and patient. They start showing up at 4:30 in the morning and wait all day to see us for a brief visit... The clinicians are all tired and hot and busy but I believe would all agree that there is certainly a joy in practicing pure medicine.”

Thursday, January 28th
The team has expressed again how grateful they have been for the skills of the translators that have been helping them these past days. The doctors are additionally appreciating the skills of the each of the team members and what they all bring to the whole. The following quote sums it up eloquently:

“Everyone who visits us says we have good organization and I believe it really shows the quality of the nurses from Santiam Hospital being able to jump in and run such a chaotic pharmacy and ‘clinic’. Our staff has great training in many areas and are indispensable here. I can’t imaging trying to do what we do without their support. Of course we have help from nurses and others who have been here before and everyone is appreciated and working hard.”

Friday, January 29th
Word in Haiti travels fast. People are arriving to be seen as early as 1:00 a.m. and waiting for the clinic to open, their numbers reaching into the hundreds for several mornings in a row now. The nurses have organized night shifts to look after some of the patients they have admitted to their hospital (the clinic) working all or part of the night shift, sleeping a few hours and working all day. The team is seeing so many people with such profound lost and yet in the midst of it all they have some joy as well, the delivery of a baby and a woman brought in alive after 14 days under rubble.

Saturday, January 30th
The team is still seeing hundreds (and hundreds) of patients a day. They see a lot of need for on going care for earthquake related injuries. So many people are living without shelter and water, making it difficult to keep previously addressed injuries and dressings on wounds clean. They are using large amounts of antibiotics, wound care material and are grateful for the skills of Dr. Borella (an anesthesiologist) and medications she can use to help ease the pain for these dressing changes. In addition to recent injury, they have been seeing a lot of long-term care needs such as malnutrition, which is especially hard to see in the young children.

Sunday, January 31st
Today the group went to the city of Port-au-Prince and were unprepared for the sheer amount of destruction and large number of tent cities they saw. They set up a clinic inside the remains of a school and treated a high volume of patients with injuries including infections and broken bones.

Tomorrow morning the group returning will have a few hours of clinic then finish packing for a return trip into the Dominican Republic. They will spend Monday night in Santo Domingo and then fly out early Tuesday morning.

“Guesly should be commended for leading this trip down here—we have treated thousands of patients and saved many lives. Hopefully we have given a small amount of comfort to this country. I want to thank Guesly and our community for making this small amount of healing possible.”
— Dr. Neumann

Monday, February 1st
Today the team woke up to another waiting crowd at the clinic. They saw patients until it was time for them to leave to travel back to the Dominican Republic. They arrived at the hotel in Santo Domingo about 9:00 p.m. Tomorrow they fly out early and start the full day of flights back to Oregon!

Thank you everyone for the amazing out pouring of support.

Tuesday, February 2nd
The team has returned home! Yesterday after morning clinic they had eight hours of stop and go travel to the hotel. Today they got up early for a full day of air travel. While they were in Haiti they saw over 2,400 patients. We are very proud of all the work they did and thankful for the support they have received.