Day 2: Haiti

Greetings!!
Today is my second day here in Haiti and I found out tonight that I am going to be acting as the person in charge of all pediatrics. This is very exciting news however it comes with a lot of responsibility and big shoes to fill. Tonight after waking up I went down to the pediatric unit to speak with the physician who was currently in charge of the unit and she was actively coding a 35 week premature baby. The baby unfortunately did not surivive even given our efforts. This was not a good start to my evening to say the least!! Then the physician informed me that the OB doc's were performing a crash c-section on a women whose baby was bradycardic and had very little amniotic fluid. The doc and I headed over to the OR and got situated with all our needed supplies and waited. The baby was delivered (very tiny.. maybe only 1.5kg) and wasn't breathing nor had a heart beat. We suctioned and stimulated the baby as fast as we could, and attempted to warm the baby the best we could. I gave IM epi and began bagging the baby and thank God the baby's color improved from a very light gray color to nice and pink. The baby began to make sounds and his tiny heart began to finally beat!! That was such a blessing!! The mother has been pregnant 3 times and each baby has died prior to the deliver due to complications she had. This is going to be her first living child! We worked on the baby for almost 30 minutes then decided that the baby needed to be transferred to a field hospital where neonatal ICU physicians and nurses would help to transition this new baby to the world outside his mommy. We transferred this tiny baby in the back of a "haitian ambulance'... talk about scary driving. We were driving so fast throughout the streets of Port-Au-Prince with the lights and sirens beaping about.. and it seemed like the fellow drivers on the street could have cared less. Not one care moved aside nor did the people walking in the streets move aside!! Definitely an experience I will never forget. As we drove my job was to listen to the babies heart and ensure that it continues to beat as well as keeping him breathing. We finally made it to the outside clinic and dropped the baby off in the hands of a team of nurses and doctors who are well prepared to help him!!

After returning back to the Adventist hospital the Pediatrican and I discussed the care of the other pediatric patients who remain in the hospital. I received report on the patients and just finished up re-educating myself on particular diseases including typhoid management, malaria management, infected wounds (pseudomonas), neonatal sepsis, pneumonia, TB, and other general pediatric complaints. My new job beginning in less than 5 hours will be to manage the pediatric hospital. I plan to work with the Haitian and American nurses to run that part of the hospital. I will finally put my skills as an Advanced Practice Nursing Student to use.. Lets hope the Lord prepares my brain for the next few days!!!

I have not been able to see Yveline-however I plan to see her on Sunday. I will meet with Chachi and Yveline's family at Chachi's house for the ending of my trip! I am very excited however my new job has me stressing a bit... Sunday couldn't come any faster!!!!

Please continue to pray as tomorrow will be a roller coaster of a ride!!

God Bless,
Tiffany