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RICHLAND Dr. John H. Staeheli of Richland had spent months getting ready for a medical mission -- his seventh -- to the Caribbean nation of the Dominican Republic, Haiti's island neighbor.
In the Tri-Cities on the morning of Jan. 12, as the doctor began packing to board an airplane later that day, he was unaware that a 7.0-magnitude earthquake was ripping Haiti's capital.
Unable to sleep on the long night flight to Miami, Staeheli, an orthopedic surgeon, decided to call his co-worker at Northwest Orthopedics Sports Medicine, Dr. Lewis Zirkle.
As the founder of Surgical Implant Generation Network, a low-tech system that uses metal rod inserts to help heal broken bones, Zirkle was mobilizing a disaster response kit that he would bring to quake victims.
"I called Zirkle and told him he may need to change plans," said Staeheli, who reached the stricken island days ahead of his colleague.
Staeheli made the heads-up calls, knowing it would be important to coordinate with Zirkle on getting surgical supplies and SIGN's specialized bone-fixing insert nails directly where they would be needed at Port-au-Prince, the quake epicenter.
His mission team members could be couriers, helping to reduce expensive shipping costs, Staeheli said Wednesday, less than 24 hours after returning from his two-week mission.
Staeheli's team members, consisting of about 40 volunteers from throughout the U.S., couldn't join Zirkle and Jeanne Dillner, a nurse and CEO of SIGN. But some of the group, which was sponsored by the Institute for Latin American Concern and Jesuit Relief Services, were able to go to Jimani, a border town in the Dominican Republic where some Haitian quake victims had been brought for medical care.
"Luckily, we had personnel and equipment we could shift to the border," Staeheli said.
Jimani is about 18 1/2 miles from Port-au-Prince.
Politics and personal animosity between people of the two nations prevented Staeheli's team members from entering Haiti, and there were restrictions in allowing injured Haitians into hospitals in the Dominican Republic, he said.
"Haitians were not evacuated as they should have been," the doctor said.
Despite the political obstacles, Staeheli said many good things were accomplished. His team performed hip and knee replacements and helped several earthquake victims who managed to reach hospitals in the Dominican Republic.
Using e-mail and texting, Staeheli was able to use connections through his Navy experience to link Zirkle with medical staff of the USS Comfort, a hospital ship whose surgeons have helped more than 300 quake victims.
Staeheli knew a low-tech system such as SIGN's surgical nail implant system could be done without need for X-rays.
A post by Dillner on SIGN's website said that Staeheli told medical staff on the hospital ship Monday about the SIGN system, and a day later, Zirkle and Dillner were invited to come aboard the ship to train surgeons how to use SIGN to increase their productivity.
Before they left, Zirkle and Dillner gave the ship's doctors 45 surgical SIGN sets.
SIGN's Wednesday posting also reported that Zirkle and Dillner have been working in the 70-bed Hopital Adventiste d'Haiti in Port-au-Prince.
"(They) have been working nearly around the clock treating injured patients. They did surgeries until 4 a.m. Saturday, then grabbed some much-needed sleep on a cold, concrete floor before going on to the next hospital," according to the report on the website.
Staeheli said much of the medical help has been aided by donations of equipment from several medical suppliers, including Zimmer, Biomet, DePuy, Smith-Nephew and Stryker.
The team members for the Institute for Latin American Concern included a surgical team from Creighton University.
Joining Staeheli on the mission to the Dominican Republic were his wife, Marilyn; David Behrens, an orthopedic equipment representative from the Tri-Cities; and Hanford High School alumni -- Mikal Gatowski, 2003; Greg Dann, 2006; and Greg Staeheli, 2002, who is the Staehelis' son.
"We could have done more had the evacuation been better. But we feel fortunate we had people and equipment we could provide for immediate emergency care," John Staeheli said.
"It was a disaster beyond all expectations," he said.
-- John Trumbo: 509-582-1529; jtrumbo@tricityherald.com
