ARTICLE - HELPING HANDS

HELPING HANDS FOUNDATION HEADS TO HAITI
(GreaterAnnapolisPatch) - By Ann Brennan

Local medical foundation heads to Haiti to assist at Baptist Haiti Mission.

Since the Baptist Haiti Mission was founded 60 years ago, Haiti has experienced 32 coups. This is a fact that puts a little fear in the hearts of the doctors, medical techs and nurses from The Helping Hands Foundation who will be arriving in Haiti on a medical mission on March 20—election morning.

But the fear isn’t stopping them.

The team of local orthopedic surgeons, nurses and medical techniciansis set to arrive in Haiti, be met by a volunteer and driven an hour and a half outside of the city to the mission. The will then begin to see patients.

They will set up a triage in order to make decisions about who can be helped without needing a lot of recovery time or follow-up treatment afterwards. The more severe cases may even be treated that day. The doctors have five days to see patients and hope to use those days as effectively as possible.

Local orthopedic surgeons, Dr. Jeffrey Gelfand and Dr. Thomas J. Harries co-founded the Helping Hands Foundation in 2005 as a means to assist a young Romanian boy. The boy suffered from a hand deformity and the doctors were confident they could correct it.

Then with the help of Dick and Mary Skinner, who agreed to house the young boy and his mother, along with donations of time and resources from Anne Arundel Medical Center, the doctors and their team of volunteers where able to do just that.

Since that time the two have developed the program to assist several people from around the world by bringing them to Anne Arundel Medical Center and finding host families for them.

They also have been able to extend the program to include medical missions, such as this one to Haiti, and teaching missions in which they travel to less-developed countries and teach doctors how to perform more complicated surgeries.

Dick Skinner started the ball rolling on the Haiti mission. He was familiar with the Baptist Haiti Mission through his church and caught word of a young soccer player who was in danger of losing his leg.

With the help of the Helping Hands’ doctors and Dr. Suleika Michel, who hosted the boy while he was recovering, The young player has been able to keep his leg and is back in Haiti undergoing further physical therapy.

Dr. Bill Vickers, who is going on the mission as one of three anesthesiologists, explained this series of events and how it changed the face of the mission.

“We used to focus completely on orthopedics, but because of Dr. Michel’s involvement with that case and willingness to travel with us on this one, we will now be able to offer some OB/Gyn services, as well,” he said.

As the 16 doctors, nurses and medical techs held their final planning meeting at AAMC on March 11, there was a small sense of nervousness, but their teamwork and dedication quickly showed through.

Technicians passed medical gear to several of the doctors. Carpools were discussed as packing lists were whittled down in an effort to fill their bags with more medical supplies and gifts for the mission.

The meeting had been called with two goals. First was to help organize the final details, and second it was an opportunity for the team to meet local resident and long-time volunteer at the mission, Adele Lieb.

With stories of her experience of being in Haiti when the 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck just over a year ago, along with experiences of aiding the people of Haiti since then, Lieb was able to help the group understand what they will face.

She assured the group that with almost 30 hillside acres, the mission is well insulated from outside dangers. If they stay within the grounds on their visit, they will be safe.

But Lieb’s main mission for the evening was to explain how much their presence will change lives. She wanted them to understand the impact they would have on the people of Haiti.

Harries, who has been a part of several medical missions in Romania and Africa, agreed.

“The experience you get on a medical mission is invaluable," he said. "Yes, it is incredible—helping people who you know might not get the help without you. But it will change all of their lives, as well.

"The appreciation you come home with…appreciation for your family, job, country, for everything we have here. That is…”

He stops short, not knowing just how to describe it.

Before the meeting wrapped, they heard more details of what they likely will face—showers will be scarce, some equipment may not work, the main power generator shuts down at 8 p.m.

This is where the experience of the eight members of the team who have completed medical missions before will come in handy. Having learned by trial and error those members can help make sure things run smoothly.