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Friday, January 27, 2012
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Serving Maine and Lincoln County for over a century. |
Volume 137 Issue 04 |
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| 2/24/2010 2:00:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Waldoboro nurse Andy Kennedy poses with a new mother after assisting the first natural birth of his career "Liz (a doctor on the team) caught the baby, I was just glad to be able to help," he said. (Photo courtesy Andy Kennedy) |
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Waldoboro Resident Returns to Haiti as Medical Volunteer
By John Maguire
Registered nurse Andy Kennedy expects he will soon return to Haiti to join a medical team working in the earthquake-ravaged country and welcomes donations for the effort.
Kennedy, of Waldoboro, runs The Crofter's Garden Nursery in the summer months and had the time to make the trip. He left for the remote village of Cayes Jacmel, Haiti after receiving a 2 a.m. phone call from a doctor with the International Medical Assistance Team (IMAT) on Feb. 1. During his stay, communication with his wife, Kristin, has been difficult and she has had to rely on Facebook updates as to the team's progress and other information. (Those interested in learning about IMAT can visit the website: www.imateam.org.)
Andy returned on Feb. 17, Ash Wednesday. He will be in Waldoboro for a short time, to recoup and share his experience with Lincoln County residents. He has already gained support and interest from fellow residents and hopes to fund his second excursion to the region.
He spent two weeks with a group of paramedics and volunteer firefighters in a village devastated by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the country on Jan. 12.
Kennedy described how the team he was with took a flight to Jacmel, Haiti with the help of a missionary group (Go Ministries) who had been transporting people and medical supplies to the area on a small, twin-propeller six-seat airplane.
The un-pressurized cabin gave him a real sense of the altitude in which they were flying. Kennedy said he was glad not to have had to work at such altitudes, admitting he was not as fit as some of the paramedics on board. He later stated in an interview, some members of the group he was with expected to hike into nearby mountains, where there are no roads and people are still in need of assistance.
The altitude of the land climbs sharply from the coastline and mountains reach 10,000 feet. According to the CIA Factbook, the country lies in the center of the hurricane belt. Flying into the area, Kennedy saw the devastation from the earthquake, as well as from a population wracked by poverty.
"We went from the beautifully organized Dominican Republic to a place where all of the mature wood has been cut down," Kennedy said.
He said people in Haiti have been cutting down the hardwood trees to burn for charcoal, as it burns for a very long time. Many of the remaining trees are located on private property or are not sufficient for burning. Stripping the land for charcoal has been in practice for some time, he said, but since the earthquake, many people left with just the clothes on their backs are desperate for any and all resources.
Kennedy said he saw a number of buildings with significant damage, the sight of which increased as his plane reached its destination. He said he saw what was left of a large church or cathedral.
"The front wall was fine; beautiful, proud and gleaming white," he said. "We did not see any roof behind it as we landed. I don't remember any walls, either."
Kennedy and the team rode in the back of a pickup truck to the village of Cayes Jacmel, where they found the hospital run by a U.S. doctor who spends half the year there and the other half in the U.S. After a 45-minute tour of the small missionary hospital, Kennedy learned about the shortage of volunteers in the operating room ("OR"), where he was assigned.
He saw dozens of wounded people on cots and mats on the ground, wherever there was available space. There were many amputees and sick children at the hospital. Kennedy described his first experience working in the hospital as being in a "madhouse." The team was very busy. Kennedy filled his time by flushing IVs, giving patients medicine and tending to many other tasks in the OR, including helping the paramedics with surgical procedures.
Many of the patients did not want to be inside one of the buildings for fear of it falling down on top of them. He watched as people continually stared at the ceiling, expecting it to fall.
The team had set up tarps outside throughout a sitting area garden on hospital grounds. Kennedy said it rained every night. The tarps and tents protected about 20 people each from rainfall, but he said one night a tarp fell under pressure from gallons of water washing down. The rain was warm, but only made their work more challenging.
The medical team saw over 200 patients the first day they arrived. Kennedy said a lot of patients came in with crushed and broken bones. On one particular day, he and the doctors repaired broken limbs of two patients, one of whom had not seen any medical care whatsoever for a couple of weeks.
Kennedy described one of the patients as a "rather pretty and very shy girl" about 18 -20 years old. He said she did not look at the medical staff or her arm and was "quiet as a mouse." The medical staff stabilized her arm and tried to make her feel relaxed. Kennedy said she was able to respond to questions.
People walked, rode, cycled and were carried from hundreds of miles away to the hospital to have broken bones fixed and for other medical treatment.
The team provided medical care for many children, as well as mothers and other patients.
"We had a mother come to us today," Kennedy wrote in his journal. "Two weeks post delivery with a baby girl. She, the mum, died before she got up the small hill. The family told us to keep the baby."
Kennedy also described how the team fixed up a boy who had club feet. The boy, estimated to be less than three years old, was walking on the side of his feet and ankles. He said the quick operation released his feet to almost a normal position. A doctor had the child laughing his way to sleep, Kennedy said.
The team also worked on a three-month-old premature baby boy and taught the father to feed his child formula using small instruments.
"We also have a collection of relatives of patients who have nowhere else to go," Kennedy writes in his journal, adding they hid mattresses they were sleeping on for the following nights' sleep.
He said the poor conditions have caused people to steal medical supplies and other materials.
"People are fighting for what they've got," Kennedy said, adding that the team treated a man who had a machete wound in his thigh cut straight to the bone.
Medical teams in the area have had to set up guard to protect supplies from people desperate for help and who have been selling what they find. Kennedy said the price of food has increased.
All the same, Kennedy said the people he met were very appreciative for the help.
"These people may be poor in money or possessions, but they are rich in smiles and very gracious," he said.
The teams are working with whatever resources they have or come in through donations. Kennedy states at one point in his journal he cleaned "filthy" instruments, a chore which was difficult as the OR did not have running water.
Speaking of a medical kit, he said, "Everything is old, damaged, sometimes rusty. When asked for a pereostal elevator (which gently lifts cartilage away from bone) all I could offer was a dull, curved, half-inch chisel. So, that is what we used."
Despite the need for more medical supplies, Kennedy said even the milder drugs they used helped patients.
He writes, "people with horrible infections who would probably have died in the U.S. are taking a course of good old fashioned ampicillin and walking home a day or two later."
Throughout his experience, Kennedy mentioned being extremely tired. The team worked throughout the night during his stay in Cayes Jacmel. Help came later with the addition of 20 medical professionals.
"I know that I have at least done a lot of good here," Kennedy said. "I hope it will be counted when I go. The extra 20 people make so much more work possible."
Kennedy is actively seeking donations for his trip and to help the medical team he plans to join with the Canadian Medical Assistance Team (CMAT) in Leogagne, Haiti. He estimated his first excursion cost roughly $2000 of his own money and is hoping for some help to fund another successful trip. He said other people from Lincoln County have gone to help out and who have expressed interest in joining Kennedy.
The Waldoboro Police Dept. is accepting donations of camping gear and medical supplies during working hours, he said. Checks made out to the "Mid Coast Medical Team for Haiti" can be sent to a special account set up with The First bank in Waldoboro. The mailing address is: The First, PO Box B, Waldoboro, Maine 04572.
Those interested in learning more may contact Andy Kennedy at 217-3441. The IMAT website is: www.imateam.org. The team has a separate Facebook page with photos and much more information linked to the website.
The Lincoln County News will continue to follow Kennedy's experiences in Haiti as his story develops and further information becomes available.
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