By Aprille Thomas
Staff Writer       

While local organizations head out to help with the relief efforts in Haiti, insufficient preparation can lead to a delay in being able to exercise their goodwill.

Cold welcome for Fletcher Allen Staff

Brian Cunningham graduated from St. Michael’s College in December 2009 as a biology major. He currently works at Fletcher Allen in the Emergency Room as a communications specialist, and as an emergency medical technician (EMT-I) on Fletcher Allen Coordinated Transport (FACT).
           
 Cunningham recently returned from the Dominican Republic, where he was aiding in the Haiti relief efforts at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Jimani.

Vermont Haiti Relief Team witnessed many births during their time in Haiti. (Photo courtesy of Bob Davis)

“Our Nurses Union president sent an e-mail to the entire hospital asking if anyone was interested,” Cunningham said. “I responded immediately, thinking that it was the right thing to do.”

With his Emergency Medical Services experience at St. Michael’s and his work on FACT, Cunningham had some experience with critical patients.

 “But nothing could have prepared me for what we found.” Cunningham said, in an e-mail.

 Cunningham went with a group of 11 nurses, doctors, paramedics and Fletcher Allen EMTs who wanted to volunteer.

The group initially flew into Santo Domingo without a sponsoring agent but they had made plans to unite with the Red Cross before they left.

 “Once we got there, our Red Cross connection didn't materialize, so we were somewhat stuck.” Cunningham said.

Another relief organization, Partners in Health, referred the group to the border town of Jimani. There were reportedly more than 500 patients that had crossed the border after the earthquake, Cunningham said.

When the group arrived in Jimani they were not well welcomed, and they were referred to as “fuel to the fire” by a Dominican health official.

“We got verbally lashed by a very angry Dominican health official for over an hour, entirely in Spanish, and he didn't allow me to stop to translate.” said Cunningham, the only Spanish speaker in the group.

“He was angry because many other American physicians had come down, performed crazy surgeries, and left without providing necessary post operative care.” Cunningham said.

The group was taken in by a local family for the night. The next day they returned downtown and Cunningham was determined to speak to the health official again. But on their way they ran into group of American physicians that had just finished a night shift at another hospital.

“It was fate.” Cunningham said.

The physicians referred the group to the Good Samaritan Hospital where they were welcomed with open arms, Cunningham said.

Turn of events

Once at the Good Samaritan Hospital the group started working immediately. They called their counterparts in Santo Domingo who rented a car and a van to transport the group’s baggage and their other staff members to Jimani.

 “There were over 300 patients in a hospital that could have held 60.” Cunningham said.

Cunningham, along with two paramedics, worked to coordinate a transport system for the facility.

Temporary relief hospital set up on the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti.(Photo courtesy of Bob Davis)

They worked with local authorities such as the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, and Army to get helicopters to transfer the most sick patients out of the hospital for better care.

 The other staff worked with patients on a one on one basis providing services like wound care.

 “There were a ton of patients with really difficult to manage injuries.” Cunningham said.

 They worked 12 hour shifts for eight consecutive days. The group faced many challenges emotionally, physically and culturally, he said.

 “Transportation was extremely difficult. Dominican people wanted to make a profit out of our presence so prices were high.” Cunningham said.

 Cunningham described one particularly impactful night.   

 “One night as we were winding down, it was eerily quiet. I was about to turn the lights down when one patient began to sing softly. Slowly, surrounding patients began to sing too.” Cunningham said. “Before long, the entire unit erupted in a beautiful Creole song. It was profoundly touching, and a memory that will live with me forever.”

 Overall, despite the challenges, setbacks and criticisms the group faced, Cunningham said he believed it to be an experience worth having.

 “It was a complete and total success.” he said.

More preparation next time

Fletcher Allen Hospital spokesperson Mike Noble is not opposed to sending help to Haiti, but he found fault with the way the Fletcher Allen Healthcare Center staff went two weeks ago.

Noble said the Nurses Union representatives recruited nurses and tech people for that trip.

“The Nurses Union representatives just created teams and said they were going and wanted support.” Noble said.

Fletcher Allen team loads a patient into a helicopter to be airlifted to care. (Photo courtesy of Bob Davis)

That was the first group of assistance from the Fletcher Allen Healthcare Center that left on Jan 25.

“The problem was that they went without any direction or connections.” Noble said.

After the disaster in Haiti, the hospital began putting together teams at the request of the government and asked staff to register with the National Disaster Medical System.

“We did this so that if we got a call asking to send volunteers, they would be able to without hassle.” Noble said.


Another group of hospital staff will be sent on behalf of Fletcher Allen Healthcare in early February as the first group returns. This time they will be armed with the relevant information and will be better prepared for what they will be up against, Noble said.

“We have a pretty generous leave policy. After a year at the hospital, staff is allowed 10 consecutive workdays off.” Noble said.

This policy was waived for this situation however, allowing staff without a full year’s service to go and offer assistance.

The staff at Fletcher Allen are also allowed an unpaid leave for up to 12 months if they want to go do any kind of volunteer work in underdeveloped countries.

“The wants and needs for health care assistance in Haiti is changing.” Noble said.

Initially they only wanted anesthesiologists and health care professionals with previous relief effort experience, preferably with some knowledge of French, he said.

“But now that more people are being treated, they need physicians to assist with the healing, prosthetics etcetera.” Noble said.

Fletcher Allen also offered support to their physicians who may have had ties to Haiti and wanted to go help out.

The hospital also has plans for future relief efforts, but they will be determined as the situation progresses.

“There might even be a third or fourth group going depending on what the need is, but we just don’t know yet.” Noble said.

WCAX in Dominican Republic

Local station WCAX followed the story of the Fletcher Allen crew. Currently, the WCAX team is stationed at the Jimani hospital in the Dominican Republic.

Some members of Fletcher Allen Relief staff. (Photo courtesy of Bob Davis)

“We didn’t have any issues getting our team there,” WCAX general manager Peter Martin said.

“We pretty much just got on a plane and flew to the Dominican Republic."

WCAX’s main focus is to cover the local effort in response to the disaster he said. The station had a similar response to the Hurricane Katrina and the Sept. 11 disasters.

WCAX reporter Kate Duffy and photographer and St. Michael’s adjunct journalism professor Bob Davis, just returned from Jimani and were constantly updating the WCAX Web site during their trip.

For more information about Cunningham’s trip, read his blog:
http://vthaitireliefteam.tumblr.com/