Two local teams back from Haiti

The Camano Chapel medical mission team, which left for Haiti on Jan. 25, has returned stateside. So has a dental team, gone from Feb. 1-10.

Don Turner, organizer of the medical team, said the group arrived in Cap-Haitian to find more or less what they expected.

“There wasn’t much earthquake damage in Cap- Haitian,” Turner said, “but there was a huge influx of refugees from Port-au- Prince. It was overwhelming how many people were there.”

Turner and his team visited the pediatric ward of a Cap-Haitian hospital and witnessed a staggering number of people in need of care. The hospital staff simply couldn’t keep up.

Turner said the health care in Haiti is much different than in the states. Patients must pay upfront – first to get into the hospital, then to see a doctor and again to receive treatment.

“A lot of what we saw is the normal way of life there,” Turner said, “but everything has been compounded by the earthquake.”

The hospital patients, especially in pediatrics, affected Turner the most.

“There were so many babies waiting in line just to have an I.V. started – things we would consider basic care in the states,” he said.

The initial reaction, Turner said, was often frustration and indignation as people from the states, who are used to a much higher quality of care, witnessed what looked like neglect.

But then you realize, Turner said, “the hospital staff do care, and they’re doing everything they can. They just don’t have the facilities to keep up.”

After visiting the hospital, Turner and the team set up their clinic right outside town, in a church next to an orphanage. There, they treated over 900 patients.

“It was a record for us,” Turner said.

So many people came for care that Turner went out with an interpreter, scouting the crowds.

“We tried to pick out the worst cases and get them to the front of the line. It was tough,” he said, and sometimes felt like they weren’t making a drop in the bucket.

When the work became emotionally overwhelming, Turner said, “you have to focus on the good you’re doing. A lot of people are just happy you’re down there and that you care.”

Before the team left, Turner said they expected to treat quite a few secondary infections. And they did, although there were surprises, too.

At one point, a motorcycle hit an 8-year-old boy outside the clinic.

A crowd of Haitians came streaming through the door, Turner said, which was kind of scary.

“We didn’t know what we were up against,” he said, “but then, in the crowd, we saw several people carrying a boy.”

The team patched up the boy as best they could. They found no broken bones and after monitoring him for several hours to make certain he didn’t have a head injury, they released him.

One thing the team didn’t anticipate was the emotional trauma in Haiti. Turner said they planned for the medical aspects of the injuries, but not the anxiety.

“That’s where Pastor Mich came in,” Turner said.

The team also sent people into nearby towns to get Valium and other medications so victims could relax and sleep. The pharmacies, however, were picked over.

In the end, Turner said, you just have to do the best you can.

Camano Chapel is sending a third mission team, focused on construction, to Haiti Feb. 22-March 3. Readers can follow their blog by visiting www.camanochapelmissions. org and clicking on the “mission trips updates” link at the top right-hand side of the page.

Staff Reporter Jeremiah O’Hagan: 629-8066 ext. 125 or ohagan@scnews. com.