January Medical Trip Day 4

Today was truly an experience. But I'll get to that in a minute. We got up a little earlier so that we could get out as soon as we could. That didn't really go according to plan due to the fact that the car that the 410 Bridge had some kind of problem so we were two hours late. While they were getting another car, we pulled two of the trucks up to start loading them up but since it rained last night the beds were really wet so Rich took one and floored it in reverse and slammed on the brakes to get the water out which I wish I would have thought of. When we finally got the other truck here, we loaded up and picked up a couple of Haitian doctors and nurses on the way and got to the house where we were set up the clinic.

Getting set up took like 20 minutes and we were ready. Before we knew it we had patients going through triage, seeing the doctors and getting medicine at the pharmacy. We worked fairly smoothly but towards the beginning we did have some issues. 

There were some problems with the triage forms and the fact that there were sort of two different triage forms being filled out, and not quite enough translators. However, the biggest problem was the Hatian people who would try to circumvent the system we had set up. People would just show up at the triage station at the actual clinic, without the paper that they got from the 410 Bridge saying that they paid for the clinic. We would love to have taken them but then it wouldn't be fair to the people who paid. Also the vast majority of people coming to us had never been to a doctor before, so some were coming just to come even though they didn't necessarily think there was anything wrong with them. I totally understand this perspective however, because they may not know if there is anything wrong and why not find out while there is a doctor here because who knows when the next one will be here. It was extremely frustrating when someone feigned an ailment just to come get some random medication, but luckily one of our guides, Nadia, was watching people as they came to the intake and weeded out those who were fine coming up but all of a sudden had an unexplained ailment. Luckily she said that there were only a couple. Something else that slowed everything down was either a miscommunication somewhere or some people trying to game us, but many parents would get a wristband signifying that they paid for themselves, and then would have the doctors treat them and then have them treat their kids, who didn't go through triage. Again, if I was a parent, why would you not try to take every advantage given to you when it comes to the well being of your kids? It is totally understandable but extremely frustrating.

Side note. Initially I did not think that having them pay was remotely a good idea because they they have so little. But in line with the 410 Bridge's philosophy of having the Haitians "leave some skin on the pavement" so to speak makes the clinic an investment, and even from a Haitian perspective, the amount they have them pay is not that much. So I think I agree with it now, especially since there is not a chance that we could help as many people if the clinic was free and those that we couldn't help would not be happy to say the least.

I spent most of the day with Sean the chiropractor doing demonstrations and being a dummy for the Haitians to show where their pain was. There were some people who he really helped and came out obviously looking much better. I helped as much as I could but as the day got more and more chaotic, I decided I could help out better outside with the guys who were bringing people through. 

As soon as I got outside, this man rode up to the clinic on a mule with the help of some family or friends. I was extremely conflicted and I could tell most of the rest of us were too. He didn't pay, but we had made a few acceptions earlier in the day, but we had begun turning away people, but he seriously needed help, but looking at him, the triage team had already pretty much made up their minds that he was beyond our help. While the leaders were deciding what to do with him, another guy limped up with the assistance of family. 

The first man was clearly a stroke victim, he was nearly completely unresponsive, could not focus his eyes and could barely move. The second was also likely a stroke victim but I actually never found out what his diagnosis was. His entire left side was paralyzed and he could not focus his eyes. He was barely responsive and was very weak. In the end we decided that we would help them but no more exceptions after these two even though we knew that there was not a whole lot we could do to help. The thought didn't really cross my mind at the time but it bares a resemblance to the story of the paralyzed man who was lowered in to the house Jesus was in. Unfortunately we do not have the power to un-paralyze someone, or treat a massive stroke that happened years ago. So the doctors did what they could but ultimately they were told they need to go to a real hospital. 

The doctors were absolutely amazing by the way. They saw patient after patient never complaining about the conditions, which obviously left much to be desired, and went through 60ish people in the time we could be there. Another important job was those of us who played with the kids all day and kept them entertained. It was hot and muggy and they played soccer, jumped rope and played with those kids from 10am-4pm nonstop. The prayer team also did a fantastic job as well as everyone in the P.T. and pharmacy team. I am so proud of what we were able to accomplish in one day and I have no doubt we will do better tomorrow.

When it was finally time to go, we made two house calls on the way down the mountain. When I say we I mean the doctors because a lot of us would be totally useless in that environment, myself included. One was for a mother and baby that was born today, and I believe another was for someone who was just unable to get up the mountain. After a long break and time to decompress back at the hotel, we had a small devotional and regrouped and talked about what we could improve. We are coming back with a plan tomorrow, and it will get better.

Sorry this got posted so early the next day but I locked my iPad in Sean's bag in the room and just never had time to get the key from him. I'll try to have the second post up tonight before 9:00pm Central.