Disaster response B#3
Second full day here, and another two storms on the way. one is suppose to be tonight and should have 60mph winds and lots of rain, and the other may come this way in a week and be stronger (Tropical depression 9). We will wait and see. I made rounds with two surgeons from the RAND hospital that came over here to see what patients we had and to contribute what they know about them. Some of the patients came from their hospital which is closed because it sat in water for two days. We saw and looked at a lot of the patients with cellulitis and debridements. The man that I operated on last night is doing better and more conscious all the time. There were three patients that came in last night and a constant stream in the ER today.
I saw another woman that had a leg infection from standing in water that had sewage in it. The dressing needed changing, and I was told she may need sedation. So I arranged with the OR for sedation. They set up monitoring and everything near her bed in the womens ward. I unwrapped a lot of surrounding dressings. Then I saw patches fo necrotic (dead) tissue. I was able to push off some of the with my finger and rub them away with gauze. Then I realized it was deeper and needed a formal debridement in the OR. The orthopedist came in and saw what I was up to, and agreed. He has a lot of war wound experience and I think his thoughts are important. Transferring this person was challenging as she was very heavy. Lifting her on and off the OR table and stretcher took 7 of us. The orthopod and I scrubbed it the OR and cleaned out all the dead areas we could. Then we wrapped her legs and willl wait to see what happens. Later in the afternoon I went and helped tie down the windows of the tents, so that when the winds start tonight, we will have less rain inside.
I was able to take a shower early, in the outdoor showers-looking at the sky. Then off to supper, with was a vegitable curry with rice- and was good! now off to bed, before the storm hits and I get woken up.
Greg
Disaster response B#3