Another team of Children’s clinicians departed Hanscom Air Force Base yesterday for Haiti, this one including John Meara, MD, DMD, and Gary Rogers, MD, both of Plastic & Oral Surgery, David Waisel, MD, and Craig McClain, MD, both from Anesthesia, a team of Children’s nurses (Nelson Aquino, RN, Lisa Pixley, RN, Stella Harrington, RN, Jay Hartford, RN, Pam Gorgone, RN) and surgical technician, Johanne Jocelyn, with colleagues from Partners in Health. We got word that they arrived safely, and we’ll keep you updated with more info as we get it.
As 40 percent of Haiti’s population are children, pediatric medical and surgical care is desperately needed right now. The National Disaster Medical System is calling for pediatric critical care and critical care transport teams to assemble for possible deployment. Additional support teams from Children’s are currently being mobilized.
Volunteers from Children’s have been a part of the relief efforts from the beginning. Shannon Manzi, David Mooney, MD, MPH, and Gary Fleisher, MD, headed to Haiti on one of the first transports available, with no knowledge of what kind of conditions awaited them. An article from The Boston Globe today reports on the tough decision Mooney had to make in amputating a young Haitian boy’s fingers.
