The 13-year-old with the gaping leg wound arrived all by herself at the clinic.
The wound had led to gangrene, forcing doctors to amputate. Pumping her with blood after the surgery would have saved the Haitian teen's life.
But because of shortages in the region, there was no blood for her.
The death was hard on Tim Glidden, an Omaha nurse anesthetist assisting earthquake victims. He knows that teens are resilient, but with no blood, doctors ran out of options.
“She was a beautiful girl,” he said by cell phone from the clinic where he's helping.
en, who works at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, joined a Creighton University Medical Center team that left Omaha on Jan. 16 to treat quake victims. The team and others from the United States have faced the daunting task of treating patients without some of the medical equipment and supplies that are plentiful in any U.S. hospital. The Creighton doctors finally got blood late last week.
Haiti is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. Even before the quake, the country's health care system was in rough shape, with overcrowded clinics and a shortage of ambulances, CT scanners and other equipment.
Exam rooms at the clinic used by the Creighton team were turned into makeshift operating rooms, where flies buzzed and the heat was stifling. Morphine and other drugs were in short supply. Surgical instruments had to be disinfected by soaking them in sterilizing fluid. Oxygen in big welding tanks had to be turned on with a wrench.
“Certain standard practices we take for granted at our hospitals are just not available,” said Dr. Brian Loggie, a Creighton surgeon and the team's leader.
The team has worked at a small clinic in the tiny Dominican village of Jimaní, about 30 miles from the ravaged Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.
Amid the death and destruction, Glidden has seen signs of hope.
One was a 3-week-old, her arm covered with severe burns. Doctors thought they might have to amputate it to save her life, said en. They avoided that by draining fluid from the arm and filling her with antibiotics.
The little girl is recovering, filling Glidden with joy.
Despite the conditions, Loggie said the team has performed well, working 14-hour days to treat as many patients as possible. “We saved a lot of lives,'' Glidden said.
Loggie recalled three Haitian women who sang to lift patients' spirits.
“The Haitians are unbelievable,'' he said. “Very stoic.”
Another quake assistance team led by Creighton left Omaha on Friday.
The NU Medical Center also has sent a team. The team left over the weekend and consisted of doctors and nurses from UNMC, the Nebraska Medical Center and Children's Hospital & Medical Center.
Dr. Cori McBride, a trauma surgeon at the Nebraska Medical Center, took a scalpel, surgical needles, bandages and other medical supplies in her luggage.
Her bag was mostly packed Thursday. Then she repacked, taking out socks and other clothes to make room for 100 doses of antibiotics.
Conditions remain dire for the Haitian people, and donations of money for food and other necessities are essential, Glidden said.
He talked with a woman who said her family had not eaten for three days, so he gave her canned tuna, Spaghettios and granola bars.
Asked if his team has made a difference for the people there, he didn't hesitate.
“Hands down,'' he said.
Contact the writer:
444-1122, michael.oconnor@owh.com
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