Wishard Medical Mission To Haiti

Photos

2010-02-02T14:36:00.000-08:00

Patience and perseverance

2010-02-02T14:27:00.000-08:00

Mike Thralls has made eight trips to Haiti. His ninth was unlike any other.

Thralls, a Wishard paramedic, led a medical mission team to Port-au-Prince less than two weeks after one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in modern history.

His team arrived in the Caribbean nation, which shares an island with the Dominican Republic, twelve days after a 7.0-magnitude shook much of the capital to rubble and killed an estimated at 150,000, a number that rises with each passing day. More than one million people are believed to be displaced.

Thralls, along with his wife, Melanie, led a team of medical professionals to deliver desperately needed supplies and care to the people of Haiti over the course of five days there.

“We felt it was a very successful mission,” Thralls said. “When you look at it, in 18 days we went from a disaster, with no plans, to a complete mission, equipped, departed, fulfilled and returned safely – and then drove through a 200-year snowstorm to get home.”

The team set up a clinic at the Morning Star Christian Academy, where the team provided care for 800-1,000 people and helped many more with the supplies, food and water left behind. Beyond providing care directly, the team also taught Haitian teachers and patients at the school how to scrub and bandage wounds, how to identify which medications worked best for pain control, which antibiotics to use, and how to cast and splint orthopedic injuries.

From Saturday, January 23 through Wednesday, January 27, Thralls’ team saw much of the devastation that flashed across television screens around the world.

“There was a lot of destruction,” he said. “We didn’t go down by the government palace, which is where I was told the dead bodies were, but we saw the Caribbean Market (which was destroyed) and many of the streets and things that the TV was showing.”

Site-seeing was not really on the agenda, though, as the team went through line of patients everyday, providing care and advice to people from the surrounding encampments and some who walked from five to ten miles away.

The hardest parts, Thralls said, were the patients who couldn’t achieve complete recovery with the team’s limited time and equipment.

“It’s certainly a triage situation to work with what we had and where we were at with things,” Thralls said. “Overall, I’d say the mission could be summarized as patience and perseverance.”

More to come

2010-01-29T08:17:00.000-08:00

We hope to provide a detailed account of the trip upon the team's return to Indianapolis. In advance of that, here are some words from Mike Thralls regarding the challenges that still remain.

"The mission does not stop with our return home. Haiti still needs help. Medical help is only part of what Haiti needs, but it is what we know we can provide. In the initial days after the earthquake, people lived or died. Now, and during our time there, there are many more people beginning to suffer from infection. Many more will die without continued antibiotics and wound cleansing. In the coming days, as the news of Haiti fades from the headlines, remember there is a nation that still has needs, and we are able to provide some assistance. Thank you for everyone's support during this mission, but don't let it fade from your mind."

Update: Return from Haiti

2010-01-29T08:01:00.000-08:00

The medical mission team to Haiti has returned to American soil safely and following a successful mission.

The team left Port-au-Prince on Thursday, arriving at Fort Pierce, FL at 3 p.m. They spent the night in Florida on Thursday and are making their way back to Indianapolis today by van.

Wishard paramedic and team leader Mike Thralls relayed the success of the trip: the team transported 2.5 tons of medical supplies to Haiti, delivering them intact and returning the crew to America safely. While in Port-au-Prince, the team helped convert a school into a clinic/hospital, and every day there the team was able to provide care for victims of one of the most catastrophic natural events in the history of this developing nation.

In its time in Haiti, the team provided critical care to between 800 and 1,000 patients, including three critical burn patients they were able to airlift out to the Dominican Republic. Only one amputation had to be performed, while many more wounds were treated to prevent or abate infection and many others required cleaning.

As the days progressed, the team not only delivered care for the 2,000 people living in tents behind their facility but also to people walking from five to ten miles away to seek general medical care. Many required care beyond the capacity of the team's limited equipment, an indication of the great need still present in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country now and for the foreseeable future.

The team is driving through a winter storm to get back to Indiana today, but that is a small obstacle compared to the challenges they witnessed over the past several days.

Update: Success and a surpise

2010-01-27T11:37:00.000-08:00

The medical mission team's hard work has been considered successful so far. They were able to treat and provide care for almost 260 people on Tuesday, and Haitians are walking from five to ten miles away to get treatment at their clinic.

The team continues to see many fractures, instances of wound debridement and infection, and general medical concerns. Currently preparations are being made to send a second team to Haiti to continue in the effort to provide care.

Team leader Mike Thralls and his wife, Melanie, got a special surprise this morning when Mikenso D'Haiti.

The Thralls hosted Mikenson, 12, on two occasions when he came to Indianapolis for medical surgeries.

Mikenson and his family live on the Haitian coast more than 40 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince. It was a very nice surprise for the Thralls family!

Cumulatively, the team is well and working hard more than two weeks after the devastating quake.

Tour of downtown

2010-01-26T10:40:00.000-08:00

The team toured downtown Port-au-Prince this morning. Last night, they saw a few patients at the church where they are staying. Previously that church was identified as Mission in Haiti, but it's actually House of Compassion. Among the patients they saw last night was a newborn baby, who is doing well now.

The team was expecting to treat several patients lined up for this morning, then they were going back out into the crowd to assess new patients. Team leader and Wishard paramedic Mike Thralls is working with Morning Star to establish the school as a clinic for continued support in the area.

That's all for now. Look for continued updates.

First days in Port-au-Prince

2010-01-25T10:13:00.000-08:00

The team made contact today from Port-au-Prince, where temperatures are approaching 90 degrees.

The medical mission team is doing well. They are in an air-conditioned building with food, water, and security. Because of a poor connection, the conversation with team leader and Wishard paramedic Mike Thralls was brief. He did say they had experienced some more aftershocks last night from last Tuesday's earthquake, but they were all so tired they slept right through them.

On Sunday, they were able to airlift out three of their critical burn patients to the Dominican Republic and treated another 50-60 more patients. Their current medical supply needs list includes the following:

Ortho Glass
Betadine scrub
Crutches

Mike also said that much of the work from this point will be family practice medicine.

On the ground in Haiti

2010-01-25T03:27:00.000-08:00

The medical mission team made contact early Sunday morning.

They are safe and rested, and they began providing care upon their arrival in Haiti on Saturday around 2:00 PM. They treated mostly pediatric patients, with a handful of the cases considered serious and 20-30 that were non-critical.

Later they arrived at the "Missions in Haiti", where they are staying, and there they treated 20 more wound infections.

They set up clinics on Sunday at the "Morning Star Christian Academy". A crowd of 300-400 people was to be awaiting them. Since they would not be able to treat everyone on the first full day in Haiti, the group planned to go through the crowd to pick out the most serious cases. The most common cases they are seeing include:

* 2nd and 3rd burns
* post-injury infection and cellulitis
* wound deprivement
* dehydration
* orthopedic injury
* eye wash
* umbilical hernia (one case)

At this time there is limited communications from Haiti.

Check back here more updates.

Lunch provided by Harry and Izzy's

2010-01-19T10:20:00.000-08:00

Before the team left for Florida, local restaurant Harry and Izzy's generously donated box lunches for the first leg of the trip.

Sendoff successful

2010-01-19T10:15:00.001-08:00

The medical mission team left Wishard this morning just before 11:30 a.m. bound for Florida and then on to Haiti. The team, led by Wishard paramedics Mike and Melanie Thralls, delivered a brief informational presentation and received a warm sendoff from the Wishard staff on hand to send them on their way.

Here are some photos of the day's event:

Live updates on Twitter today

2010-01-19T06:20:00.000-08:00

Follow the events as they unfold today:

http://twitter.com/medmissionhaiti/

Team set to depart today

2010-01-19T05:52:00.000-08:00

The medical mission team led by Wishard paramedics Michael Thralls and his wife, Melanie, will depart for Haiti on Tuesday, where it will deliver desperately-needed medical supplies and care to the people of Haitian capital Port-au-Prince injured in last week’s 7.0-magnitude, catastrophic earthquake.

Wishard plans a sendoff for the group, which will drive to Florida before flying to the island, located less than 700 miles south of Florida, and arriving at Port-au-Prince on Thursday.

The team has collected and packaged medications including antibiotics, IV fluids and other medical supplies, and have authorization to transform an orphanage, located roughly six miles from the airport, into a field hospital. They also have approval for alternate sites at a school in Petitionville, just outside Port-au-Prince, as well as a hospital in St. Ard, 30 miles northwest of Haiti’s capital. The team includes a trauma surgeon, a physician assistant and registered nurses and paramedics who have volunteered to participate. Additionally, the team includes multiple speakers of Haitian Creole, and it will take satellite phones and self-sustaining supplies. Wishard Hospital, the IU School of Medicine and Mission Haiti Midwest are supporting the team and its mission to provide care for the affected in Haiti.

Welcome

2010-01-18T17:56:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the Wishard Medical Mission to Haiti blog. This medium will be used to share information and updates on the medical mission team, led by Wishard paramedics Michael Thralls and his wife Melanie Block-Thralls, that will go to Port-au-Prince to set up a field hospital to aid in the disaster recovery effort.

The team will bring desperately-needed medical supplies as well as expert care to the people of Haiti, tens of thousands of whom are injured or sick as a result of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the Western hemisphere's poorest nation on Tuesday, Jan. 12.

The team will carry satellite phones and share updates on its progress as often as possible. Continue to check back here and follow on Twitter for updates.