Medical Experts in the Rehabilitation of Amputees Travel to Haiti toOffer Expertise and Begin Next Phase of Recovery
March 2010 ALYN Hospital staff , physiotherapist Ofra Ginat and occupational therapist Ayelet Gal, report from HAITI.
"Hi Everyone We are still battling the jet lag and apologize for not sending an e mail earlier but we did not have any internet connection. We also didn't have running water and had to do with water drawn from a well and wash in a bucket! We have now started working in St Damien Hospital. Children keep on arriving. Some children can only make the trip to the center twice a week- remember that the city is in ruins... We work 8am-3pm and then we go over to another hospital where we work for as long as needed. We mainly instruct parents in bandaging the amputated limbs, on how to strap on the prostheses for those who have them, positioning and active work on strengthening, walking etc. We work with a team of Italian orthotists. There is so much work and there are very few physiotherapists. The local aides are still untrained and they seem to be quite unaware of the need for occupational therapists. There is no one except us to do it all. We plan to sit with the head physiotherapist at St Damien to plan several teaching sessions for her staff to introduce them to treatment for amputees and how to encourage the patients to be independent - a new concept to them all. We get back to our living quarters around 5:30 in the evening - it is already dark and we have been warned not to roam outside in the dark. That's all for now Ofra and Ayelet "
February 15, 2010 (Israel/Port Au Prince): ALYN Hospital is proud to announce that medical professionals from ALYN – (www.alyn.org) – Israel’s premier rehabilitation center for physically disabled children and adolescents – under the auspices of IsraAID (www.israaid.org) and " Tevel b'Tzedek", will arrive in Haiti Wednesday, February 17th. The mission will examine and evaluate the type and number of injuries, as well as assess the abilities of the local medical staff in Haiti to carry out the necessary rehabilitation of its people. ALYN Hospital has a wealth of expertise in the types of injuries children in Haiti have suffered from, as a result of the devastating earthquake, particularly in rehabilitating children with prosthetics, orthopedic injuries, spinal cord injuries and head traumas. The exact number of amputees in Haiti is still unclear, but experts believe that record numbers of people may have lost limbs either from injuries sustained from building collapses and falling debris or from life-threatening infections contracted in the days and weeks following the quake.
As the emergency response shifts from rescue and recovery to rehabilitation in Haiti, Israel is at the forefront again, sending a team of experts who specialize in the rehabilitation of children with such injuries. “We are terribly saddened by the heartbreaking number of amputees in Haiti, but are grateful for the opportunity to be a part of IsraAID’s mission so that we can lend our expertise in rehabilitation to the people who need it most,” said Dr. Shirley Meyer, Director General of ALYN Hospital. “Our therapists - as part of the IsraAID team - will make a ground assessment of the rehabilitation and resources needed. If a decision is made - at some point in time - to bring Haitian children and medical professionals to Israel, ALYN Hospital will be honored to open its facility to them in an effort to provide rehabilitation for the injured children and hands-on-training to potential therapists so that they can return to Haiti well equipped to rehabilitate the local population.”
This mission is part of a broader mission to Haiti which includes the Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma of Herzog Hospital, , "LaTet" organization and "Tevel b'Tzedek.
IsraAID: is a coordinating body of Israeli and Jewish NGOs who are concerned about global issues and active in development and relief work. IsraAID was founded in 2001 and consists of 16 Israeli and Jewish organizations from around the world.. IsraAID’s members believe in providing humanitarian aid worldwide to people in need, regardless of religion, race, gender, nationality, age and type of disability.
Tevel b'Tzedek: is a pioneering Israeli NGO working on issues of social and environmental justice. It is the first Israeli NGO to bring Israeli and Diaspora Jews together to study and work in developing countries and at home in order to eliminate poverty and develop a Jewish approach to justice in a global world. Tevel b'Tzedek's projects integrate education, youth and women's empowerment, health, agriculture and income generation in order to revive marginalized communities in Nepal, Israel and now Haiti.
For more information about ALYN Hospital and IsraAID’s rehabilitation work in Haiti, please visit www.alyn.org, or call Hagai Shmueli: 052 464 3555
UPDATE from ALYN's professional staff in Haiti: Hilla Boral, occupational therapist and Coos Weber, physiotherapist. HAITI - 2nd day: "Finding the needs, looking for "a view from the balcony" Yesterday Coos visited the St Germaine Hospital and came back thrilled. He found a modern, well run facility that usually serves as a rehab center for children with developmental disabilities but is now fully occupied with trauma victims. About 20 children are cared for by one very able physiotherapist who was delighted to get some help. They treated every child together and she would love for him to come back.
We started the second day by visiting the refugee camp and looking at the clinic run by a German team. Six beds, one doctor, several nurses, and long lines of people waiting hours and hours in the sweltering sun. Cases of fever and diarrhea – quite alarming, as disease will spread fast in these conditions. They also see to patients who need wound care and relatively minor injuries – amputated fingers etc. we were told of another hospital – the Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) so that was our next stop. It was an amazing experience. We were greeted with great enthusiasm. A greeter wrote down our names, gave us stickers with our title (OT, PT) and we were attached to an American doctor, who turned out to be Jewish and actually joined us for Shabbat Service later…. She handed us cases and Coos immediately made a foot splint for a youngster, got patients standing and adjusted walkers for them. For some reason no one did that yet and for a month they have been lying doing absolutely nothing. When they tried to move, it was by holding on to other patients…. You can imagine what a huge difference Coos made by immediately improving their quality of life! Suddenly everyone wanted walkers and canes and started to move and hop….The whole place became animated with smiles all around. Coos is ecstatic. He connects quickly with colleagues and patients and everyone falls in love with him, and rightly so. The climax of the day was a five year old below-knee amputee who was in a wheelchair. Coos gave her crutches and helped her walk, as all around people were cheering and wondering at this beautiful child and at Coos. Photos will be sent!! The child was amazing and Coos - a star.
The Sacre Coeur takes anybody who is willing to work. Every child has a chart with instructions what to do next because people change all the time. Some teams come for a few days only, some for a few hours – it's insane. There are no core personnel. Who will care for these children when the delegations stop arriving?
Today I stayed at camp to work on logistics and Coos went back to the Sacred Heart. We are part of the compound and have to take our share of cleaning, food preparation etc. Today there is lots to do because tomorrow morning a huge air-conditioned tent will be put up, donated by actor Sean Penn. I have to explain how things work here; this is a valley surrounded by slopes filled with refugee tents. It is incredibly crowded. Every family has a tiny plot to itself. There are toilet tents and shower tents and Red Cross Clinics. The Germans and the Americans and the school operated by Tevel Betzedek with teachers from the camp. We are staying at the top of the hill in the luxurious Country Club compound that the US army took over. They are responsible for food and water distribution (unbelievable heaps of bottled water), security and hygiene. The tennis court houses three organizations. One is Sean Penn's, who brought over a medical and logistics team, another is Oxfam, who deal with the logistics of running the refugee camp, and us ten Israelis. I met Sean Penn walking around as one of the team. They say he will also provide better internet connection. I do hope so. While writing this report a US soldier showed up looking for an OT. I went with him and prepared a splint for a woman at their clinic. Her hand was crushed in the quake and contractures are already setting in. I showed her some exercises and made her balloons filled with flour to use for therapy.
I feel we are starting to get a clearer picture. We have yet to locate more kids. We need to find where the badly injured children are, and where will they be sent later. We asked for a tour of the USS Comfort. That would be a great help. Coos really wants to care for the children right away. I completely understand him. I thought we will spend half of each day doing therapies and the rest to look at new places. I think that's all. Coos and I are fine despite the hardships – all the discomfort is negligible and unimportant. Today is my birthday and we had a celebration with balloons and it was very sweet. I received congratulation from everyone here and back home. I wish you all a great day Love Hilla " | 
