Summit from Jared Nikkels

Here is a quick update on what I know at this time.

Greg Bennett's CCH team left yesterday after cleaning up many of our tough ortho cases and handling and releasing many patients. They were able perform surgery on most earthquake cases that needed it and started in on cases that were here prior to the earthquake. The team came with about 3500 pounds of medical supplies.

Project Haiti's team arrived by truck after a long trip last Saturday. They came with 15 people. Six of the team members came to help organize supplies and have left. We have Dr. Fogarty and his team that continue to operate. Their team brought approximately 11000 pounds of supplies.

We also have two orthopedic surgeons from the Rotary Club staying here and working with the doctors from Project Haiti.

The hope is to rotate teams with a couple days of overlap so they can have continuity of care.

We have been feeding all patients since the earthquake with money received from PFH and now we have started preparing two hundred meals each day for all patients and their families. We have also been able to feed much of the staff here at the hospital. We prepared a varied menu including meat each day and will continue to work on tweaking the nutrition to support proper healing. Caleb Lucien has also been supplementing our program and is bringing an afternoon meal for patients and families. We have also started giving purified water twice a day to patients and families in the hospital.

The Rotary Club and Caleb Lucien were able to get us a cast saw on Wednesday and that was a tremendous help. Lorrie Beauchamp Berg has also shipped a cast saw and that will be a great back up especially with all the casting going on right now.

We received the autoclave via Coast Guard Helicopter and it is working now allowing us to sterilize more and larger instruments.

We are still looking to accept patient’s especially surgical patients. I spoke with Will White from MAF this morning and he was going to try to fly some surgical patients up here today. Jim Scheller's employer, Arkel Int'l is willing to pay for some of those flights. MAF has been a tremendous blessing.

We are currently working on organizing supplies and are working on a centralized inventory system. Stacey and hospital staff has been working to keep up with the influx of supplies.

I apologize for the lack of communication. Our Internet has failed and the Internet at the hospital is off and on. We will keep working together and try to keep everyone updated when possible. Thanks to everyone for the concern and all the hard work. Please forward this to anyone I missed. God Bless

Message from Dr Batsch

Dear all,
on behalf of thousand victims of the tragedy of the Earth quake received in Pignon for whom most of you were and are still available to help, and on behalf of the administrative staff ,I say thank you for this surgical week passed at Hopital Bienfaisance de Pignon as a trauma center.

For this week the challenge was great and it will be the same for more weeks to come.Many surgeries have been performed,many hopeless people got hope,many starving victims and some members of their families got something to eat, and finally many homeless found an area to sleep in Hopital Bienfaisance de Pignon.Those actions were possible because of your quick response to the needy people here.

In testimony of our gratitude,we send you some pictures of the activities inside the hospital during this week.

Find in attachment the pictures...

Looking forward to welcoming you again
Gratefully ...

Dr Batsch update

Dear All,
Three days ago, in Hopital Bienfaisance de Pignon, we started operating as a trauma center taking care of victims of the earth quake,doing surgery (6 cases a day) for broken legs, broken arms, chest trauma with hemo pneumo thorax etc. I'm pleased to send you some pictures for your information and promised to keep you informed on a regular basis as we continue to receive and to take care of the victims.

We already received more thand 100 victims from whom 57 were admitted and 18 surgeries performed.

Followin are some pictures of the activities.

Thanks for your help and for your inestimable support.
Gratefully,

Dr. Batsch

Dr Batch interview Jan 14-2010

I am having difficulty uploading the video to this web site.
you can go here to see the interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xevLbbOamY

Up Date 1-25-10

Dear All,

Saturday 23, 2010, we continue to perform big surgery cases - Eight Cases has been done.
Patients with open fractures:
Amputation (3 Cases)
Debridement (2 Cases)
Internal Fracture Open Reduction ROFI (2 Cases)
Large Debridement (1 Case)

As we mentionned in our previous E-Mail,
we received on Saturday January 23, 2010 four
(4) patients from Port-au-Prince

Sunday 24, 2010 we performed four
(4) Cases - Patients with open fractures
Amputation (1 Case)
Internal Fracture Open Reduction - ROFI (3 Cases)
Project Haiti arrived this morning,
leaded by Patty Nelson and Dr. David Forgaty the Plastic Surgeon.

We will keep you informed
Gyrlene

Autoclave & Dermatome Found

Thank you to everyone who has assisted us in trying to find an
autoclave and dermatome for the hospital. One of the physicians
who was traveling to PIgnon when we started the
the search had a dermatome with him
and we have located an autoclave. It
is going to be shipped to
Port Au Prince on Monday.

Prayers are working~~~
So Please Dont stop~~

Hospital update

Dear All,
We just want to keep everyone updated
Yesterday we received a Group / Ortho, Anesthesia, Nurse. This group is connected to Greg Benett.
They work all night until 7:30 AM . Big Surgeries have done
After evaluating 18 patients who need surgeries, they performed surgery
1) Hip Desarticulation (2 Cases)
2) Fingers Desarticulations (2 Cases)
3) Large Debridement for gangrene (2 Cases)
Greg BENETT arrive this morning in Pignon with the rest of the team. Work is being continued.
We will keep you informed.

PS: LATEST NEWS
MAF Airplanes are airlifting Port-au-Prince patients to Pignon Hospital.
We are waiting soon for Helicopter to airlifting patients from Jacmel which is overwhelmed.

Gyrlene

Photo by Guerby Belizaire

Keep reaching out to each other
Keep Supporting each other
Keep Praying

Needing each other

In these pictures the people supporting the workers with their singing and cheering are as needed and as important as the ones pushing and pulling the large air-conditioner

With God all things are possible. We need each other and no part is greater than the other.

Update

To all,
those pictures are a specimen of patients (cases) victims who went back home that we are receiving,admitting,caring and hospitalizing at Hopital Bienfaisance de Pignon after the disaster created by the Earth Quake on January 12,2010.We hope to receive more day after day and once a good reference system is established.


JEAN - JUMEAU Batsch,MD
Family Practice/Obstetrique - Gynecologie

OK in Pignon

I recieved a report from Jared this morning


I just wanted to send a note to say we have not been affected in Pignon by the earthquake that occured early this morning and we are all safe. Please pass this on to those I forgot. Have a good day. Thanks

Jared

Update from Lorrie

Dear Everyone,
I will try and give you as much of an update as I have at this time.
Things change hourly and it is often hard to keep up.
As most of you know the Fargo team returned home on
Sunday and Dr Siri Fiebiger, president of the Promise for Haiti
board, hit the ground running.

The Board members, as well as the team leaders,
that are planning on going to Pignon this week, had
a conference call. Dr Fiebiger debriefed everyone on
what had taken place while they were in Pignon, during and
after the Earth Quake.

Siri informed everyone of the plans that
were worked on while in Pignon and were
being put into place to deal with what we can
only try to antcipate in the next couple days, weeks and months.

As of Tues morning ****
Two medical teams will
be going into Pignon this week

The Hospital have Ortho patients waiting for doctors.

CCH is sending 13 people, including
2 ortho surgeons,
2 anesthesia ,
several nurses,
PT
TV Crew

They are bringing as many supplies
as they can carry.
The Jacmel team is separate.

They have been asked to go to Cange too
and that WAS the plan for this Ortho team.
But because the Project Haiti team
will not be there until Sat
CCH will stay in Pignon
because of no surgeons in Pignon.

Project Haiti is going to
Pignon with a medical team on
Sat. They have Orthopaedic surgeons
Anesthesia, Plastic Surgeon,
General Surgeon and pediatrician.
The plastic surgeon general surgeon,
and anesthesiologist are planning to stay
long term – up to 2 months.
They are bringing in as many supplies as they
can along with food to help feed the team.

I am working with Mike Evens on a
program to allow Pignon to communicate with us
to let us know what their supply need are and to let
them know what is being sent and when to
expect it.
With all the supplies going into Pignon
with the two teams It is hard to determine what
the needs are or will be in the next few days
but as the teams start working and supplies
are used and needed we home this program will
allow us to better meet the supply needs at
the hospital.

Keep Praying

Lorrie

From Beth Gulke

Beth Gaulke, Many Hands for Haiti

If you're like me, you are overwhelmed by the desperate images you are seeing from Haiti and the increasing urgency to save any lives that may still be saved and to get food and water to those who have survived. Imagine if you were there living it. But this morning as I had these desperate thoughts and feelings, I was reminded of many ways God has answered our prayers in the midst of this. God is on his throne! Let's praise him for those answers today. Please thank him with me:
Jared had a safe trip to and from Port-au-Prince. They found Dr. Batsch's family and were able to bring them back to Pignon with them.
The Vanderhoff, Fuller & Poulter families of Pella have found their children, safe and sound in Port-au-Prince. Because of much media attention their story has received, people are working on their case and there is hope that they will be able to get their children home quickly on a humanitarian refuge visa. Pray for this to happen! If you did not see it, I encourage you to find their story on abcnews.com. They were on Nightline last night, and it's a powerful story.
Kristie & JeanJean Mompremier have found all of their family alive. They were all able to find a way to Bohoc (where the Mompremiers live) and arrived about midnight last night.
There is relative peace and patience among the suffering people in Haiti as they wait for relief. Continue to pray for God to hold them in his peace as efforts continue to help them.
Lives are being saved, and relief efforts continue. The world is pouring resources into Haiti with great generosity. Pray that all aid can be wisely and peacefully distributed.
Thank you for your prayers. God is hearing and answering us. There is so much we cannot understand about this, but we can continue to rely on our God, the Lord of all nations.
I'll continue to post as I get updates from Jared & Stacey. Internet continues to be patchy at best.

Updates

CCH- Community Coalition for Haiti also has their own web site and some information
can be found there.

http://www.cchaiti.org/

Update from Lorrie

Friends
I just want to keep everyone updated as to what I know
Pignon hospital is receiving people hurt in the earth quake
At this time the Fargo team is in Miami they will
be in Fargo at !2:30 pm Sunday.

CCH is sending a Medical team with Supplies,
Flying MFI - Medical 18 people including ED doctor
nurses, and and 1,000 lbs.of supplies
Arrival Wednesday.
Logistics teams - 4 people Arrival Monday

Project Haiti is planning on bringing in a team
hopefully Tue or Wed they are planning on bringing
Orthopaedic surgeon, General surgeon, anesthesiologist
Trama surgeon, Plastic Surgeon.

Each team is bringing Supplies including Food to help
feed their team.

Keep Praying~
Lorrie

Message from Dr Guy

To be brief ,
we have plenty of Patients coming from the Hearthquake areas with Open infected wounds with fractures of Arms , Upper Arms , Legs , open infected wounds , Kidney Blunt Trauma with Hematuria etc
We are cleaning the open wounds with fractures
We have no Plates , no Vis , no Screws to operate
No IVP to do UIV to test the Kidneys
Right now we have a patient coming
from Cap-Haitien this morning with a broken leg
sustained thru Hearthquaque in Port-au-Prince
No care in Cap-Haitien
Just want you to be informed
I just had a meeting with Jarred and his wife
that we start working in a comprehensive system
for the Hospital and patient's care and feeding program etc
Just for your Info

Dr Guy

How to Help

Dear Friends and Supportors of Haiti:

I am sure that you have been overwhelmed the last few days with the
reports that are coming out of Haiti. All of us have invested something
into that lovely country and right now it is hard to watch the reports
that are coming from there.

Before you read anymore, I want to reference you to Jared Nikkel's letter
that has just been entered on the blog. Jared and Stacy are the family
from Iowa that have felt called and moved to Pignon to help with the
Promise for Haiti mission, formerly known as Christian Mission of Pignon.

The mission is going to need our help. We are setting up a fund for the
Hospital Bienfaicanse to buy medical supplies, fuel to keep the
generators running, food and water for earthquake victims
who are being trasported to Pignon. Donations can be made to
Promise for Haiti, 4402 Howell Place, Nashville, TN 37205.
Please write "earthquake relief" on the memo line.

You also read on Jared's letter an appeal for supplies. We
are currently in contact with Missionary Flights International
our of Ft. Pierce, FL. to see if they can and will fly supplies
into Pignon to help with the effort. We will let you
know if this can be arranged. If this can be arranged,
we will be back to you to let you know how
this can be done. Please wait until you hear
when and if we will be able to go in with cargo.

In the meantime - pray, pray , pray - for protection
for Dr. Guy and all the hospital staff, for Jared and Stacy
and all the other missions that are helping - and pray
that energy, compassion, materials and supplies,
food, water, diesel fuel - will all be supplied.

This is all for now - we will try to keep you all informed
and posted as to what we all can do next.

In his name,
Denny Brand, Executive Director
Promise for Haiti, formerly Christian Mission of Pignon

Update from Nikkels

Hello Everyone,

I am writing with a heavy and anxious heart. I returned from Port au Prince last evening around 7 pm after spending a little over 24 hours there. I travelled with Pastor Caleb Lucien and Dr. Batsch to find the families of Dr. Batsch and several other doctors that work in Pignon but live in Port au Prince. We also planned to assess how we could help so that we could coordinate our assistance in Pignon. I must say that the leadership and compassion of Pastor Caleb and Dr. Batsch was a tremendous blessing to me and the people of Haiti. We carried some medical supplies, water, and tents and were able to help several neighborhoods with the few supplies we had. Thankfully and by the grace of God we found Dr. Batsch’s wife and seven year old son and the other doctors that we travelled with were able to find their families alive although some were injured.

I saw first hand the destruction and loss of life and it is incredible. I cannot fully describe the scene and I am still trying to process it all myself. I wept this morning as we continued our 40 days of prayer. It is simply very hard to experience. Imagine over 3 million people displaced, hundreds of thousands of dead bodies, no power, no water, no shelter, no fuel, no food All of this is unimaginable in a developed country let alone a country like Haiti. From what I saw the city is for all practical purposes destroyed. I was able to see all of the government buildings, finance, justice, health, mayors office, palace, all destroyed. Four large hospitals destroyed, and all hospitals damaged. Nearly all the major businesses were destroyed or severly damaged and commerce has stopped. I saw two working gas stations but each had run out of fuel by the time we left. I saw dead bodies everywhere, lining streets, lying in rubble, piled on street corners and being slowly carried away by men with carts. I saw people erupting in joy at the news their loved ones survived and I saw families erupting with grief as they learned of the loss of their family, the scene repeated itself thousands of times all over the city. I saw thousands upon thousands of people sitting and lying in the streets unable or too scared to enter the shelter of the buildings left standing. I slept outside with many people and listened to the sweet sound of relief planes arriving and carrying hope more than anything else. I listened as thousands of people cried out to God and even praised him. I felt ashamed at my lack of faith as they sang “tout bagay déjà byen” “all things are already good”. Unbelievable. I counted people as we stood and waited along the road out of Port au Prince. The average was 81 people per minute heading north, with that average over 14,000 people passed by me on there way out, many unsure where they will go. I’m sure you have all seen pictures and heard the news stories but the reality is astonishing and will worsen in these first days of this tragedy.

I returned to Pignon with Dr. Batsch and his family and 9 others whose homes were destroyed. We had the business of seeing the Fargo, North Dakota team off, graciously arranged by Pastor Caleb and we will be planning how we can provide for victims in the next few days. They announced on the radio today that patients can be taken to the our hospital here in Pignon so we will see what happens. The patient load here is heavier than normal and I suspect will continue to increase. We will begin planning how we can accommodate any refugees that come to Pignon. We have talked briefly about areas we can use to set up tents and will plan further as we know more.

The needs are enormous. I wondered this morning how you take nothing from nothing. Someone said yesterday “if Port au Prince is broken, Haiti is broken” and that is correct. This tragedy has deeply affected all of Haiti. The availability of all supplies here is decreasing or gone and the means to get supplies here is crippled. Diesel fuel is nearly gone and the price has nearly doubled. Diesel is $5 a gallon and a gallon of gasoline is now $12.50 in many places. I know the town of Hinche is out but this morning when I went to find fuel I was fortunate to get some of the last diesel in Pignon. Dr. Guy said that he had tried to buy as much diesel as possible in Cap Haitian, I don’t know at this time if we have found that fuel. Without diesel fuel we have no electricity, no transportation and no water at the hospital. Most of the rice, flour, sugar here in Pignon is gone or disappearing fast. Many vendors hoped they would have more tomorrow from Cap Haitian so we will see. We could find a little rice, and could only buy sugar in small quantities and could not find flour. We purchased enough supplies this morning to last about a month. Food, water, medical supplies and fuel will be the main concern all over Haiti. Dr. Batsch is preparing a list of medical supplies we will need here at the hospital and will email that soon to our supporters. If we have connections to money and supplies now is the time to use them.

Here is a list that we have compiled of needs that we have seen and anticipate. Keep in mind this is the need we have seen but we don’t know yet about how supplies will be delivered to Pignon or Haiti.

Tents Tylenol
Blankets Ibuprofen
Sheets Advil
Cots Bandages/Gauze/Ace wraps
Flashlights Tape
Batteries Triple antibiotic ointment
Hand Sanitizer Epsom salt
Toothbrushes
Soap
Shampoo
Towels/washcloths
Exam gloves
Candles

We are working on improving our communication by getting some Voila phones. Digicel service isn’t working but Voila is intermittently so we hope to get some cell phones up and running. We are still trying to figure out how we will get Stacey's parents home next week.

Thanks to all of you who have sent or left supplies with us we will be able to use much of the clothes and medicine and other items that have been left with us. Thanks to everyone who has shown so much concern for us and the people of Haiti. I’m sure we have forgotten some things and we’ll try and keep updates coming. Please forward this on and we'll try to post it on the blog as well. Keep Praying and God Bless.

Project Haiti plans & Interview broadcast

This is information from Mike Evans a telephone interview with Dr McCollister.

A Minnesota medical organization with long-standing ties to Haiti is starting to collect medical supplies to send to the earthquake stricken country. Project Haiti was started over 20 years ago and works closely with a rural hospital in the town of Pignon, about 100 miles north of Port Au Prince. MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke with Dr. Howard McCollister, one of the leaders of Project Haiti. He's a surgeon and spoke from Crosby, Minnesota.

The web page and interview

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/01/14/mccollister

Update

submitted Beth Gaulke, Many Hands for Haiti


If you're like me, you are overwhelmed by the desperate images you are seeing from Haiti and the increasing urgency to save any lives that may still be saved and to get food and water to those who have survived. Imagine if you were there living it. But this morning as I had these desperate thoughts and feelings, I was reminded of many ways God has answered our prayers in the midst of this. God is on his throne! Let's praise him for those answers today. Please thank him with me:

Jared had a safe trip to and from Port-au-Prince. They found Dr. Batsch's family and were able to bring them back to Pignon with them.
The Vanderhoff, Fuller & Poulter families of Pella have found their children, safe and sound in Port-au-Prince. Because of much media attention their story has received, people are working on their case and there is hope that they will be able to get their children home quickly on a humanitarian refuge visa. Pray for this to happen! If you did not see it, I encourage you to find their story on abcnews.com. They were on Nightline last night, and it's a powerful story.
Kristie & JeanJean Mompremier have found all of their family alive. They were all able to find a way to Bohoc (where the Mompremiers live) and arrived about midnight last night.
There is relative peace and patience among the suffering people in Haiti as they wait for relief. Continue to pray for God to hold them in his peace as efforts continue to help them.
Lives are being saved, and relief efforts continue. The world is pouring resources into Haiti with great generosity. Pray that all aid can be wisely and peacefully distributed.
Thank you for your prayers. God is hearing and answering us. There is so much we cannot understand about this, but we can continue to rely on our God, the Lord of all nations.

I'll continue to post as I get updates from Jared & Stacey. Internet continues to be patchy at best.

Fargo team update

The Fargo team has been in Pignon since Saturday Jan 9th. They are fine and coming home soon.

Lorrie,

Please forward this to family contacts. Caleb is driving us tomorrow across the border to then take a Greyhound to Puerta Plata. Caleb will stay with us Fri night and we fly to Miami Sat
Thanks

Siri

Haiti Earth Quake

I received this message from Dr Batsch in Pignon Please Keep all of Haiti in your Prayers



Lorrie

Thanks for your support and prayers. Thanks to God everybody is OK in Pignon (Fargo Team members and the Hospital staff).

Thank you...

JEAN - JUMEAU Batsch,MD