This news from Madeline Pearlmutter this morning:

Mark just arrived back from Haiti both physically and mentally exhausted.  Happy to be back.  Attached below is an informational link to a video that was made of Mark in Haiti.

In addition, we are told that tonight, Nightline will be airing a segment about doctor volunteers in Haiti.  They spent 2 days with Mark and other volunteers at Hopital Sacre Couer so there's a decent chance he will be included.

Mark is hoping -if he has time- two write a few more segments about his experiences in Haiti.

Madeline

Go here for the video:  

A recent message to Madeline offers another way to help with the ongoing relief effort in Haiti:

Actually Madeline, Caritas Christi has a relief effort as well Checks can be sent to:

Attention Sr. Marie Puleo

Caritas Christi 

77 Warren Street

Brighton, MA 02135  

Make checks payable to Caritas Christi Haiti Relief.

I am presently located in Milo Haiti where I have been leading a Caritas medical team from just under two weeks.  We are based at Hospital Sacre Coeur (Sacred heart) a 64 bed hospital located approximately 70 miles north of Port Au Prince.  The hospital normally is staffed with 20 Haitian physicians and 40 nurses.  

Because of its location it was largely unaffected by the massive earthquake that devastated much of the country.  As a result, almost overnight we were transformed into a 300 bed trauma hospital.  An adjacent soccer field was converted into a helipad which on one particular day received 30 choppers.  To accommodate the dramatic increase in volume we also transformed two adjacent schools into a 200 bed med/surg/post op unit and emergency department complete with triage.

Almost immediately after the earthquake Dr. Ralph De La Torre, CEO of Caritas Christi Health Care committed a million dollars of supplies and personnel on behalf of the Caritas Health Care System.  This was augmented by a donation of nearly $1 million of medical equipment from Philips Healthcare.  We quickly mobilized a medical team of 20 volunteers who left the United States one week after the devastating earthquake.  Our team comprised approximately 50% of the total physician.nursing volunteer work force.  Members included emergency physicians, orthopedic surgeons, general and trauma surgeons, plastic surgeons, pediatricians, general internists.  

Presenting injuries largely consist of burns, fractures, crush injuries, head injuries, spine injuries, and severe wound infections, and even grief reactions.  We have performed over 260 major surgeries to date.  It’s now nearly three weeks after the earthquake and unbelievably we continue to receive “acute” injuries on a daily basis.   The saddest part of all is that nearly one third of all our cases are children.  What’s worse is that many arrived without family which has made our mission all the more difficult.  

The health implications of this earthquake are profound and still evolving.  As a result our medical efforts and focus are dynamic.  We are just beginning to deal with protecting displaced children and new orphans, as well as relocation of patients to Port Au Prince where possible.

We are making every effort to be sure that the teams have the medical supplies,  equipment and medications they need to provide care to those who come to Sacré Coeur Your donation to the Caritas Christi Haiti Relief Fund will greatly assist our medical mission (www.caritaschristi.com). Contributions will be given directly to the Crudem Foundation which runs Hopital Sacre Couer.  

From Brigid O'Donnell, a friend of Mark and Madeline's, comes a link to more pictures from the team in Haiti.

Go here:  http://gallery.me.com/brigid.odonnell

Thanks Brigid.

Update from CRUDEM's Hopital Sacre Coeur Thursday 28 Jan 

There is good news and bad news from Hopital Sacre Coeur.

The bad news is that many of the patients received are very sick with infections because of their delayed treatment.  The staff were up all night Tuesday night trying to save a 19 year old girl but unfortunately she died.  A 26 year old man is currently in critical condition, we have put out a call for 2 ventilators and hopefully one will be arriving with the Boston Caritas Christi Hospital group tomorrow and one from St Louis.  We are now determining how many additional internists and medical people we will need to care for those with infectous diseases. 

We have 48 children victims of the quake and the good news is that several of the girls aged between 5 and 7 who have had amputations and/or have casts on their legs began to walk with their crutches for the first time today outside the "new hospital" - the school across from the hospital building.  There were lots of smiles and lots of encouragement as they took their first steps.  Kat, one of our Haitian Nurse Practitioners walked with the girls through the mens ward where many have had amputations and told them "See if the girls can do it, you can do it!".  Our incredible volunteers are doing amazing work that stretches beyond providing medical care.  Currently there is a group from Caritas Christi, one from St Louis and a medical orthopedic team from Florida.  Our thanks too to our staff and volunteer co-ordinating team working in Haiti on supplies and the million other non-medical tasks that need to be accomplished.  We are very grateful also to our supporters, those sourcing and flying planes of volunteers with urgently needed supplies,donors of essential supplies and those organizing fundraisers and spreading the word about CRUDEM. 

Another 14 patients were discharged today, we currently have 228 patients and are expecting another 20 surgical cases by helicopter Thursday. 

The following is an excerpt from Dr Bill Guyol from who just arrived with a team of 12 from St Louis;

"Hello friends of the Crudem Foundation.Greetings from Milot, Haiti! We arrived at the Crudem compound today. It is like coming home, but different this time.The hospital and the town have been transformed.  

The people here are exhausted; happy to see reinforcements.  Most work 16-20 hour days, missing their meals, showers, beds. What they did here was extraordinary. I cannot describe how valiantly this organization has responded to this crisis.The number of people who dropped all job and family responsibilities and rushed to Haiti restores my faith in mankind's capacity to love.  This was a war - chaotic, bloody, full of human misery, stoicism, inconsolable loss and heroic virtue.

We were greeted with the tears of volunteers on our arrival.  They showed us a young couple sitting on a mattress on the grass next to our residence.  Fr. Frank, a nurse from Boston and several of our staff were trying to console them.  Their beautiful 4 year old daughter had just died of tetanus. My interpreter Patrick was crushed - she had called him Papa.

We need your help. There is an incredible story here that needs to be told.  We need your prayers but most importantly we need your financial support.  This type of expansion of our responsibilities comes at a great price - human and monetary.  Please spread this email to your friends and ask them to go to www.crudem.org/give  and support this mission."

Thank you all for your continued support, we are very grateful. 

(download)

Click here to download:

From_Haiti_Good_News_and_Bad_N.zip (423 KB)

Dear Caritas Family,

Every now and then a situation arises that tests our resolve as people, as a community, and as a family.  The tragedy that has and is unfolding in Haiti is such a situation.  The degree of human suffering is neither describable nor imaginable, and I will not attempt to do so.  Instead, I would like to focus on what we as a Caritas Christi family have done, what we can do, and what we will do to help our family in Haiti.  As many of you know, immediately after the tragedy we began coordinating with The Order of Malta and Phillips Health Care to staff and supply Hôpital Sacré Coeur, located 70 miles outside of Port-au-Prince.  Together we have sent millions of dollars in supplies and over 20 medical personnel.  This happened just in time, as Hôpital Sacré Coeur was established as an emergency evacuation hospital for the severely injured.  This Friday our first two teams return home and our third team is being sent down.  We are in constant contact with Dr. Mark Pearlmutter and the team, and continuously resupplying the effort to the best of our abilities.  I have included in this email a list of all those returning.  From the bottom of my heart I cannot thank them enough; they have lived our mission.  I have also included an unedited note and pictures from Dr. Pearlmutter.  These are truly gut wrenching.  I encourage all of you to keep the people of Haiti in your prayers. Sr. Marie will be reaching out again for donations to this relief effort.  These are difficult times, but anything you can spare will be well spent.  

As always, God Bless,

Ralph

Ralph de la Torre

Caritas Christi

Our Team Members currently in Haiti:

Dr. Mark Pearlmutter, Team Lead, and head of Emergency Medicine for Caritas Christi,

Dr. Kevin O’Donnell, surgeon at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center,

Dr. John Arcuri, Chief of Emergency Medicine at Saint Anne’s Hospital,

Dr. Steve Crespo, Chief of Emergency Medicine at Holy Family Hospital,

Dr. Rocco Ciocca, Vascular Surgeon at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center,

Deb Clark, Clinical Director of Por Cristo, Caritas’ mission program in Ecuador,

Kathleen Whipp RN, ED Nurse at Saint Anne’s Hospital,

Tom Curran RN, ED Nurse at Good Samaritan Medical Center,

Dr. Jeff Taxman, a psychiatrist who has volunteered with our group,

Dr. Peter Kelly, President of the CRUDEM foundation , which runs the Sacred Heart Hospital ,

Deb O’Hara-Rusckowski RN, nurse for the CRUDEM foundation,

Dr. Tim Finley, an anesthesiologist,

Father Jim Bromwich RN, a priest and ICU nurse,

Matt Casey PAC, a physician assistant at Carney Hospital,

Judy Lerardi, a radiology specialist,

Dr. Scott Early, Vice President of Family Medicine for Caritas Christi,

Dianne Koch, surgical materials director at Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center,

Tim Stratton RN, surgical recovery nurse at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center,

Joe Brabec, a technician from Philips Healthcare,

Chirs Story, a technician from Philips Healthcare.