A group of Valley medical workers is back home after spending four days in Haiti, where they delivered 6,000 pounds of medical supplies and provided aid to people of the devastated country.
The three nurses and one doctor from Selma Community Hospital were part of a mission called “Plane to Haiti,” sponsored by The Wheelchair Foundation.
Wheelchairs are in great need because so many people have had to undergo amputations following a 7.0 earthquake.
The group of nurses said they wanted to help so badly when they reached Haiti but didn’t know where to start. Nurse Jennifer Tarazon said, “It almost at times seemed hopeless because you think, how are they going to recover from this, there’s just so much devastation.”
With no secure building to work in, Nurse Tamara Bryan says they took matters into their own hands. Tamara said, “By the second or third day, we said here’s a field, let’s put a tent up, we made friends with some locals and they said we’ll bring people to you.”
Amazingly, they operated a clinic with no running water. Tamara said, “You just pump hand sanitizer and just put on a new pair of gloves and create equipment with whatever you can and make it happen.”
Nurse Tim Miller remembers a hectic situation in the tent where they were treating about 20 patients at once. Miller said, “You’re running around putting IV and antibiotics in every single one of them.”
Then in came a little boy who could hardly breathe. Miller said, “You’re like, they should be going straight to ICU, but here you are with 20 patients and you have to take care of him too and it’s awesome when they wake up in the morning, look at you and smile and they’re still alive. That feels good.
Jennifer Tarazon’s most memorable moment happened at the university of Miami Medical Center tent. It was sad, yet uplifting. Jennifer said, “There were kids there with no arms, no legs or waiting or their amputation surgery, but they were still smiling, still beautiful and you would give them their medicine or little cookie and they would say merci and it was just very touching.”
The wheelchair foundation plans to deliver 5,000 more wheelchairs to Haiti. These nurses, as well as co-workers at Selma Community Hospital, are planning to take another trip there to help as soon as they are able to raise enough money to pay for the trip.
SOURCE: CBS 47 Fresno