Gesynlyn and I went to clinic right after breakfast and right away we noticed two very sick patients. One was a young girl in John's old bed, we were unable to get a blood pressure. We started 2 IVs and poured in Ringers Lactate. Within the hour she was awake and sat up at the edge of her cot smiling. The other was a little boy with thready pulse and he was difficult to arouse. His IV had malfunctioned, Gesynlyn restarted another IV and also within the hour he woke up.
In the last bed of the large ICU, there was a woman with massive diarrhea, we found some dry clothes and blanket and changed her into a dry cholera cot.
The man in bed 1 and his baby had been moved to the step-down unit and they were fine. The woman who was seven-month pregnant was looking well. I saw John in the street with his mother looking strong and happy.
After lunch we learned that there were riots in Port-au-Prince after the provisional results of the election were announced. The airport was shut down and American Airlines canceled all flights till further notice. From the roof top of the mission we saw young men with rocks, bottles and pipes in their hands running. We were told to stay inside and not venture out to the clinic till it was safe to do so.
A young man was brought into the mission after he was shot in the right leg. Tom, Alan, Sherry and Fabian attended to him. Tom stopped the bleeding and stabilized the shattered tibia and fibula and then he was transported to a hospital. We heard that the road might be blocked. Ironically, later that afternoon we saw a funeral procession from the roof-top, we wondered whether the person lying at rest in the coffin was a cholera victim.
In the late afternoon and evening we went on rounds, there was a man that needed close attention given his low blood pressure and continued vomiting and diarrhea. The ICU was quiet, only 11 patients left for the evening.
Comments