HAITIAN CHOLERA HOSPITAL COUNTS ITS DEAD ON THE LAWN
(Montreal Gazette - AFP) - By Stephanie Jourdain
HINCHE- The woman stricken by cholera lay in bed in a hospital tent. Fluids were delivered to her body through an IV drip while nurses made sure she drank water all the time.
But all the efforts to save her life proved to be in vain. She passed out, and feverish attempts by a hospital crew to jump-start her failing heart came to naught.
After about 20 minutes of fruitless efforts to revive the patient, the doctors gave up, and another dead body was taken to a lawn that serves as a hospital morgue.
"It’s the fourth death today," sighed an American doctor who took care of the patient. "She was young, 30 years. There’s something wrong with this emergency service. We have to do something."
Theresa Hospital is located in the town of Hinche in central Haiti. Here, on the banks of the Artibonite River, the first cases of what would become a massive cholera epidemic were discovered a month ago.
To accommodate all the patients, large khaki tents have been pitched in front of the hospital.
The chaotic surroundings include two men carrying a coffin, chickens dashing in and out of hospital tents and nurses in blue uniforms trying to make their way between parked cars and beds.
The dead bodies were placed on a lawn, a few meters (yards) away from the tents.
The hospital’s death toll from the cholera epidemic now stands at 22.
"It is not going well," said hospital director Doctor Prince-Pierre Soncon.
"When the epidemic was just beginning, we reported only three new cases every day. Then their number jumped to 15 and then to 35. This morning we have already had 60."
Because the hospital has no access to the Internet, it has trouble reporting data to Port-au-Prince, the capital. However, it was visited Saturday by a group of French and Haitians doctors and epidemiologists, who were able to collect some information.
"We need chlorine, hydrating liquids, IV drips, antibiotics," added Soncon.
"We have some reserves, but the demand is so great that they will not last long."
New patients arrive one after another.
A couple brings a small boy who is visibly exhausted. A young mad clad in jeans and a polo shirt stumbles in by himself. But he is obviously in pain and vomits on the bench where he sits even before nurses can attend him.
"It’s difficult. People come here very sick," explained Atalante Saint-Preux, a young Haitian nurse.
"They are our friends, brothers and sisters, and we need to help them."
Marie-Lourde Denise, 37, has been hospitalized since Wednesday. She has been suffering from dizziness and stomach pains since she went to wash clothes in the Guayamouco River.
"I think when I was washing the clothes, I also washed my face with the river water," she explained.
"I think that was the cause. Three days later, I was hit by diarrhea, nausea and stomach pains. I immediately went to the hospital because I thought it was cholera."
Denise has won her battle with the disease and was scheduled to leave the hospital soon.
Hinche is patrolled by UN troops from Nepal, but some local residents have accused the UN soldiers of spreading the disease. As a result, six peacekeepers were injured last Monday when about 400 angry demonstrators pelted them with rocks.
Since that incident, the situation has calmed down, but foreigners are still worried for their safety.
"I try to limit by trips," said Antonin Danalet, a young mathematics professor from Switzerland, who works at a local university.
"Since Monday, I have been insulted twice in the streets," he added. "People treat me as a stranger, as someone who could bring them cholera."
Showing posts with label ARTICLE - CHOLERA HOSPITAL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ARTICLE - CHOLERA HOSPITAL. Show all posts
Monday, November 22, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
ARTICLE - CHOLERA HOSPITAL
HAITI CHOLERA HOSPITAL IS A HORROR SCENE
(Reuter) - By David Darg
We woke to disturbing news on Thursday. Our friends at Partners in Health told us droves of people were arriving at St Marc, sick with diarrhea, and that they were dying from dehydration at an alarming rate. The question was clear, could we mobilize to provide clean water to an area suspected of having Haiti's first major cholera outbreak in decades?
Our staff immediately began loading our trucks with equipment. As we drove the two hours to St Marc emails on my phone showed the death toll was climbing steadily. Everyone was nervous.
We arrived at St Marc hospital to a horror scene. I had to fight my way through the gate as a huge crowd of worried relatives stood outside, while others screamed for access as they carried dying relatives into the compound. The courtyard was lined with patients hooked up to intravenous (IV) drips. It had just rained and there were people lying on the ground on soggy sheets, half-soaked with feces.
Some children were screaming and writhing in agony, others were motionless with their eyes rolled back into their heads as doctors and nursing staff searched desperately for a vein to give them an IV. The hospital was overwhelmed, apparently caught out suddenly by one of the fastest killers there is.
Our friend, Cate Oswald, from Partners In Health came out from a triage tent clutching a hand-drawn map. It showed the local river and the names of a few communities where the patients had been coming from. Cate and some of her colleagues led us into the countryside to find the source of the epidemic.
Soon we were heading down narrow dirt roads with rice paddies and canals on either side. The crisis had started the day before. Doctors realized it was getting serious during the night. By then the villagers had heard of the deaths and word spread quickly not to drink water from the river.
Most people had gone thirsty for hours. The roads were lined with villagers holding buckets, begging for water. Some larger groups had set up road blocks and our convoy was forced to stop and explain that we didn't have water, only equipment to purify water, and that we were heading to the source of the problem. The villagers reluctantly let us pass.
People were constantly trying to flag us down and pointing to sick friends and relatives. One group forced us to stop - they had a girl close to death. PIH staff started her on an IV and placed her in their vehicle. Her mother, clutching another baby, explained that her husband had died yesterday and asked us to save her daughter.
RISING TOLL
We arrived at the place where many of the patients had originated from, a small dusty community called Babou La Port. Our team set up a water purification system, which filters and chlorinates, ensuring that any bacteria or diseases are killed.
As we worked, sick villagers of all ages congregated under the shade of some large trees. The medical staff placed IVs in some. One, a boy named Frantz, was brought to us by his grandmother. He was weak and vomiting. His grandmother was frail and could only point to the river when we asked her how long Frantz had been ill.
Diarrhea is unfortunately a common problem in this part of the world. A villager with cholera might lie down on feeling ill, expecting to get better, and be dead within hours.
Convoys of trucks plastered with the posters of various presidential candidates drove up and down the dirt roads. Many candidates saw this as an opportunity to campaign. They were tossing out small plastic bags of water to the desperate crowds. There were fights for the water and one man was crushed under a truck in the scuffle.
Our filtration unit fired up and word spread quickly. Soon a sea of multi-colored buckets surrounded us. There were no cheers and little laughter; most of the villagers were stunned, afraid and weak. They were just relieved to have water.
Some of our Haitian staff agreed to stay with the system overnight and keep it operating. It was a daunting challenge, to stay awake surrounded by deadly disease and desperate villagers.
Back at St Marc hospital not much had changed, other than the death toll. As I write, the confirmed toll is 135 and rising with thousands more infected. There are still patients being carried into the hospital close to death.
Now however the cries of the mothers are louder and there are even more people at the gates desperate to hear news of their loved ones. The hospital is struggling to cope with such a sudden influx of patients, especially since it is still trying to recover from the January earthquake.
The scenes at St Marc reminded me of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince after the quake: patients lying in the streets, doctors struggling to cope, mass hysteria and fatigue.
On Thursday morning, as the scale of the problem began to emerge, my friend Dr Koji from Partners in Health shook my hand and said "Let's stop this". The only way to halt a disease like cholera is to stop people from getting infected. The hardest hit areas now have access to safe water, and thanks to people like Dr Koji the sick are receiving treatment.
(Reuter) - By David Darg
We woke to disturbing news on Thursday. Our friends at Partners in Health told us droves of people were arriving at St Marc, sick with diarrhea, and that they were dying from dehydration at an alarming rate. The question was clear, could we mobilize to provide clean water to an area suspected of having Haiti's first major cholera outbreak in decades?
Our staff immediately began loading our trucks with equipment. As we drove the two hours to St Marc emails on my phone showed the death toll was climbing steadily. Everyone was nervous.
We arrived at St Marc hospital to a horror scene. I had to fight my way through the gate as a huge crowd of worried relatives stood outside, while others screamed for access as they carried dying relatives into the compound. The courtyard was lined with patients hooked up to intravenous (IV) drips. It had just rained and there were people lying on the ground on soggy sheets, half-soaked with feces.
Some children were screaming and writhing in agony, others were motionless with their eyes rolled back into their heads as doctors and nursing staff searched desperately for a vein to give them an IV. The hospital was overwhelmed, apparently caught out suddenly by one of the fastest killers there is.
Our friend, Cate Oswald, from Partners In Health came out from a triage tent clutching a hand-drawn map. It showed the local river and the names of a few communities where the patients had been coming from. Cate and some of her colleagues led us into the countryside to find the source of the epidemic.
Soon we were heading down narrow dirt roads with rice paddies and canals on either side. The crisis had started the day before. Doctors realized it was getting serious during the night. By then the villagers had heard of the deaths and word spread quickly not to drink water from the river.
Most people had gone thirsty for hours. The roads were lined with villagers holding buckets, begging for water. Some larger groups had set up road blocks and our convoy was forced to stop and explain that we didn't have water, only equipment to purify water, and that we were heading to the source of the problem. The villagers reluctantly let us pass.
People were constantly trying to flag us down and pointing to sick friends and relatives. One group forced us to stop - they had a girl close to death. PIH staff started her on an IV and placed her in their vehicle. Her mother, clutching another baby, explained that her husband had died yesterday and asked us to save her daughter.
RISING TOLL
We arrived at the place where many of the patients had originated from, a small dusty community called Babou La Port. Our team set up a water purification system, which filters and chlorinates, ensuring that any bacteria or diseases are killed.
As we worked, sick villagers of all ages congregated under the shade of some large trees. The medical staff placed IVs in some. One, a boy named Frantz, was brought to us by his grandmother. He was weak and vomiting. His grandmother was frail and could only point to the river when we asked her how long Frantz had been ill.
Diarrhea is unfortunately a common problem in this part of the world. A villager with cholera might lie down on feeling ill, expecting to get better, and be dead within hours.
Convoys of trucks plastered with the posters of various presidential candidates drove up and down the dirt roads. Many candidates saw this as an opportunity to campaign. They were tossing out small plastic bags of water to the desperate crowds. There were fights for the water and one man was crushed under a truck in the scuffle.
Our filtration unit fired up and word spread quickly. Soon a sea of multi-colored buckets surrounded us. There were no cheers and little laughter; most of the villagers were stunned, afraid and weak. They were just relieved to have water.
Some of our Haitian staff agreed to stay with the system overnight and keep it operating. It was a daunting challenge, to stay awake surrounded by deadly disease and desperate villagers.
Back at St Marc hospital not much had changed, other than the death toll. As I write, the confirmed toll is 135 and rising with thousands more infected. There are still patients being carried into the hospital close to death.
Now however the cries of the mothers are louder and there are even more people at the gates desperate to hear news of their loved ones. The hospital is struggling to cope with such a sudden influx of patients, especially since it is still trying to recover from the January earthquake.
The scenes at St Marc reminded me of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince after the quake: patients lying in the streets, doctors struggling to cope, mass hysteria and fatigue.
On Thursday morning, as the scale of the problem began to emerge, my friend Dr Koji from Partners in Health shook my hand and said "Let's stop this". The only way to halt a disease like cholera is to stop people from getting infected. The hardest hit areas now have access to safe water, and thanks to people like Dr Koji the sick are receiving treatment.
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