February 8, 2010: The Hope Force medical field team of 19 in Leogane treated more than 2,500 patients in our makeshift hospital during their ten days in the region. The compound consisted of a grouping of tents for accommodation and a separate group for treating patients and recovery. Team co-leader, Christine Thompson (standing on left), reports, “Many of these patients would have died had we not treated them. The team performed surgery, wound care, orthopedic interventions and splinting. In addition to obstetrics, infant care and pediatrics, we also treated several emergencies that were brought in by stretcher. Thanks to the skillful hands of Dr. Garrett Sutter, who is an E.R. doc, we saved many. 

“Our field hospital began with just our team plus two other German docs. By the time we left, it was the largest field hospital in the area and included medical teams from all over the world working together: Dominican Republic, Germany, Brazil and the United States. The day we left, a new American team from Oregon was coming in right behind us – we were able to leave everything set up with all of our supplies in place so that they could walk in and just start working. We left a note of encouragement for them and prayed over the new field hospital as we left.”  

“Our mid-wife, Lisa Blount, saved a mother and newborn ... The mom had delivered minutes before reaching our field hospital and was hemorrhaging badly by the time she got to us. Lisa controlled the bleeding and treated both mom and newborn until they were in stable condition and could go home. A complete recovery for both is expected.  

“We sent out two mobile teams into the remote villages that nobody had reached yet. The teams brought many sick and injured patients to the field hospital including a woman who had a compound, open tibia/fibula fracture of her right leg at the ankle. We were able to arrange transport for her to Port-au-Prince where our own Dr Tim from HFI was able to do ortho surgery to correct it. The team was also able to arrange transport to Port-au-Prince for the local Pastor's wife, who sustained a severe orthopedic injury to her righthand and was in a lot of pain (the hand was deformed). Dr Tim was scheduled to do the surgery she needed in Port-au-Prince.”   

Hope Force is committed to reaching out to individuals, one by one. Although the obvious physical need a person exhibits after a disaster is often the most obvious one to respond to, we know that trauma produces social, emotional and spiritual pain. The U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) is currently developing a referral list of organizations offering psychosocial, health, and other services for survivors. It is significant that some of the major players in the Haiti relief efforts, such as the UNFPA, recognize these important recovery stages. Their report goes on to point out that additional assistance will be necessary to address current needs. 

Our team in Leogane fulfilled our mission of reaching beyond the physical needs of patients to the sometimes hidden “internal wounds”. Christine goes on to explain, “We saw a lot of patients who complained of "earthquake pains". We came to discern that this was post-traumatic stress disorder – people had headaches, couldn't sleep, had horrific nightmares, if and when they could sleep. They were plagued with fear. Several children we saw had refused to speak since "The Event", which is what the Haitians call it. 

“We prayed over these patients and asked for God's wisdom, grace and mercy. We encouraged our team to initiate appropriate touch and there were many back rubs given to these people, much hand-holding. We pray it was an effective "ministry of presence". One of our team members, Cole Hatter, had a special heart for the psychologically injured and is already working with his mother, who is a trauma psychologist, to bring a team of trauma counselors back to Haiti. 

  We emphasized the fact that we came as followers of Jesus.  We enjoyed dinner together with our co-laborers from other countries every night, and shared and prayed with and for the other medical teams from other nations. By the end of the week, the Germans decided to have communion the last night they were there and the Dominicans led the prayer time as we got on the bus to leave.  

“Our team had a great heart for our interpreters. We had the same nine young men the entire week and they all had tragic stories of loss and grief.  We asked them to share their stories with us and we were really moved with compassion for these young men who we got to know and love. After our last day of clinic, we sat everyone in a circle outside our field hospital and thanked them for their work and for being part of our team. 

“We assembled "care packages" for each of them to take home which included food for their families and wound care items for their communities. We got a chance to pray for them and share our love of Jesus. There were many tears and many of these young men came to know Christ at that moment.” 

Christine credits the prayer support “back home” for the extraordinary spirit of unity and effectiveness the team experienced. Despite the complexity of gathering the team stateside, traveling through the Dominican Republic to get to Haiti, and setting up a makeshift field hospital, there were no major “hiccups”, illnesses or danger. We believe the Leogane team has set a very good foundation for our continued work in Haiti.