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Registering Patients
I spent the first few days at the hospital seeing patients who presented with minor injuries and major injuries that just weren't getting better (like grandma's hand that had sustained a crush injury and now was infected and close to necrotic). But mostly they were coming for primary care. Without resorting to generalizations, I think it's fair to say that the people are desperate for medical attention. So they came. In droves. I saw people with headaches, chest pain (no EKG machine), colds, cough (lots of dust, or maybe it's that pesky TB), vaginal infections, insomnia, abdominal and back pain. I decided early not to let anyone leave without some kind of medication, even if it was only multivitamins and even if they were going to turn around and sell it.
Market Day
The next few days I spent at a "mobile clinic" that we established in an area on the outskirts of town. My experience as chief of the Emergency Dept. at Kaiser enduring endless, tedious meetings developing patient flow plans actually paid off! I was the de facto "administrator" at our little clinic and was able to organize the flow process swiftly - it worked and I'm proud of that accomplishment. We set up shop in an open-air church - there were 3 docs, 3 nurses, interpreters, a few volunteers, medications, supplies and water to distribute. Word spread that the docs were in town and we saw probably 300 patients over those 2 days. (Just as a reference, in my ED in LA there are 14 doctors staffed to see about 175 patients a day). Every adult had 3-4 kids with them, all of whom had complaints of a cold, cough, rash, failure to thrive, almost none of whom were really sick. I saw an 8 day old baby whose mother said the child had epigastric pain. I advised burping after feeding and handed the mom a bag of vitamins. Again, they all got something - Children's Tylenol, creams, pills, Vicks Vaporub (good for the whole family!). When we had to quit the first day the people who had been waiting and would not get seen that day got, ahem, a bit testy - actually it got a little scary but we promised to come back the next day and we did.
One of the Orphanages
Susan and I stayed at the lovely home of Gladys Thomas, the director of the hospital. It is up in the hills, away from the diesel choked air of the city, in a "gated" community (big man with big gun at the gate). Her two kids, Nina, a middle school french teacher in Memphis, and Mark, a photography student at Parsons in NYC were in town to help. Meeting this wonderful family was without a doubt the best part of my trip. There were other inspirational people, too: my new friend, Susan Partovi, a smart, personable, generous, dedicated doc and a committed activist with a giant heart; Luke, a young guy from Fullerton, who helps to run a Haitian refugee village in the Dominican Republic and who, instead of going back there in a few weeks, needs to go home to, as he said, "hug his parents;" Joel, a 20 year old Haitian kid who showed up at the clinic out of nowhere, served as an excellent translator and came back to volunteer again the next day; the German surgical team who was operating out of the hospital and have committed to a presence there until mid March; Stephanie, the Haitian psychologist who is holding group therapy sessions in the tent cities around town (how do you help a couple who lost five children grieve? There is work to do).
Another Street Scene
And then there's Gladys. She was not in Haiti at the time of the earthquake. In addition to running the hospital, 2 orphanages and a school, Gladys was in India on a medical mission. She is pretty, petite, gracious, has the most gorgeous skin I have ever seen, is calm in the chaos and fiercely dedicated to her people and her God. Her hospital, which, as I mentioned, was chiefly for woman and children, is now open to all and she is trying to find out who owns the land behind the hospital - she wants to build a rehab center there. Though I'm writing you all just to tell you the story of my trip, I feel compelled to add this shameless pitch: if you are at all interested in contributing to long term Haitian relief, please consider donating to Gladys' United States Foundation for the Children of Haiti (www.usfch.org).
While I was there, I kept wishing that I were a surgeon - these were the docs who were doing the heroic deeds and truly saving life and limb. But coming home I realize that just using whatever skills I have to help a few people through this terrible calamity is a lesson in what it means to be a doctor. It was a rich and rewarding experience.
Thank you for all your support and great feedback.
It's really good to be home.
Peace and love.
Paula J. Pearlman, M.D.
About the Author - Paula J. Pearlman, M.D.
Dr. Pearlman works at Kaiser Permanente in West Los Angeles as an Emergency Physician. She has worked as a medical doctor for over 25 years and has been Chief of the department for 6 years.
Dr. Pearlman received her BA in French from UCSB and then received her medical degree from UCLA.
In addition to her professional career, Dr. Pearlman is married with two children, tutors second year medical students through a course called "Doctoring", and volunteers at Homeboy Industries in downtown LA doing laser tattoo removal.
Dr. Pearlman is a friend of Terry Zukoski who works at Glide and is a very active participant in the SF Community of Preparedness.
Please note that Mr. Zukoski emailed the article to SF CARD staff. We loved it so much; we asked and received permission to put it in our newsletter.
