Print
Email Story
RICHLAND -- Dr. Lewis Zirkle spent 10 days in badly shaken Haiti last month doing emergency bone repair surgeries following the earthquake that is believed to have killed 200,000 people.
Now, after less than a week back in the Tri-Cities, the Richland orthopedic surgeon is planning to go back as soon as he can.
Just like last time, Zirkle, who is president and founder of the Surgical Generation Implant Network, will be taking supplies to Port-au-Prince to continue training Haitian surgeons in the SIGN system, which uses stainless steel rods as inserts to help repair badly broken bones.
Zirkle and Jeanne Dillner, CEO of SIGN, arrived in Haiti five days after the Jan. 12 earthquake. They soon were pulling 22-hour shifts in make-do operating rooms to treat badly injured patients.
The wounded came in the back of pickups. They were afraid to enter hospitals because their walls were badly damaged and in danger of collapse, Zirkle said.
Most people preferred to stay outside, camping in what Dillner called "fabric villages" because they consisted of tents made from sheets, blankets and plastic tarps.
Port-au-Prince was a mass of hurting humanity, enlarged by thousands who poured into the city after the earthquake hoping to find help. Most were disappointed, being forced to live on the streets, Zirkle said.
The 69-year-old surgeon worked shoulder to shoulder with Haitian and other foreign medical staff in operating rooms with no electricity, no air conditioning and no light except from the sun.
Despite that, the surgeons managed to complete 10 surgeries in two operating rooms on one day.
Dillner found herself in medical scrubs and learning how to operate one of the few functioning sterilization systems, which was powered by a portable generator.
The pace was intense, leaving time for little more than two hours rest.
As word spread that the SIGN team was there, Dillner started to receive e-mails from area hospitals, saying they needed the metal rods and SIGN kits as soon as possible.
"They'd say: 'We're backed up with 20 (broken) femurs,' " Dillner said.
"And we had the only equipment to do femurs," she added.
The SIGN team worked at three hospitals and spent two days on the USS Comfort hospital ship anchored in the bay, where they trained the medical staff on the SIGN bone repair system.
Zirkle did about 50 orthopedic surgeries over the 10 days. The youngest was a 13-year-old boy and the oldest a 56-year-old man. He also treated broken bones on two pregnant women.
Zirkle said he's anxious to return because the crisis is getting worse for the wounded. Untreated wounds are becoming infected and badly broken bones are beginning to heal improperly, he said.
Dillner and Zirkle also worry the tragedy is becoming old news.
"The news media is less interested and there is trouble getting volunteers," Zirkle said.
When they arrive late next week, Zirkle and Dillner expect to be doing fewer emergency surgeries and to focus more on training Haitian orthopedic surgeons in the SIGN system.
"We want to use our gifts and SIGN to the utmost by training and increasing capacity," Zirkle said.
For the latest information on SIGN's activities in Haiti, visit www.sign-post.org.
-- John Trumbo: 582-1529; jtrumbo@tricityherald.com
