It's 6 a.m. in Haiti. I'm drinking coffee from a bag when my cement seat moves back and forth. It's another aftershock — 6.0 on the Richter Scale. Three whistles blow and everyone appears in the courtyard. After a headcount, it's back to business. Just the start of another hot, helicopters-overhead, smoke- in-the-air day.

Inside the major tent are patients in traction, with broken bones and crushed toes. A mother and newborn await discharge. A TB and HIV patient sits outside the door. Amidst the chaos, a helicopter flies in carrying a baby with hydrocephalus. We name him "Zip Skyler." It's a good feeling to know I made a difference in these lives in the two weeks I was there.

Maryann Lupi, RN, BSN
Radiology Nurse
Massachusetts General Hospital

I flew to Haiti to help those less fortunate. In turn, the challenges on the ground taught me a valuable lesson about my own skills as a nurse. One night, as a child lay seizing, we evaluated the medical supplies available to us. We had no IV medications. We had PO meds, but no NG tubing. Using our limited resources, we cut IV tubing and gently inserted it in the child's nasal passage. After checking the tube’s placement, I gave anti-seizure medication by pushing it through the IV tubing with a 3cc syringe. This was just one example of the many innovations healthcare professionals used in Haiti.

Charles Brown, RN
York Hospital Wellspan
York, PA

In February, I went to Haiti for two weeks as part of a medical relief team from several Chicago-area hospitals in association with a US NGO. We worked primarily in ER tents on the grounds of a local hospital. Our group included medical workers who went on mobile clinics each day to surrounding communities. Relying on third-world medicine after a natural disaster made working conditions especially tough, but we became quite innovative and resourceful with the supplies we had. Many other international organizations were there offering assistance and it was wonderful to see everyone pull together for the same purpose: to help out the Haitians in their time of great need.

Lisa Pint, RN, BSN, CCRN
Rush University Medical Center
Chicago, IL

Cathy and I were among the first medical wave to arrive in Haiti from the United States. Our assignment was to provide austere medical care at a base established by the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. We deployed a fully-staffed field hospital and treated hundreds of sick and injured patients daily. We also launched roving care teams into nearby towns and mountain villages. The survivors in the valley below would sing each night.

We have responded to numerous disasters and national security events. Atlantic Health System has supported us every step of the way. In a world that keeps producing new challenges, experience is a tool we like to bring back home.

Flexibility and resourcefulness. I never realized how important these would be in helping me care for hundreds of wounded adults and children in the Good Samaritan Hospital in Jimani, Dominican Republic, days after the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti. As an operating room nurse, I helped in any way I could—from taking patients’ temperatures and organizing supplies to feeding children with amputated limbs and assisting with skin grafts in the OR. Plans would change hourly regarding patient care, documentation, supplies, food, and transportation. However, the need for nursing care was constant and that is why I was there.

Stephanie Celata, RN, MSN, CNORP
Winchester Hospital
Winchester, MA

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