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February 01, 2010

PENN MEDICINE In Haiti -- Dispatch 13

January 30, 2010 10:30

Subject: Empty beds

Today for the first time we found empty beds and open floor space while rounding. The inflow of earthquake trauma patients is slowing down.  We are starting to see an influx of patients with a wide variety of advanced disease presenting for care.

One such patient is a young boy who appears to have advanced osteosarcoma. He has a very large lesion on his lower leg with a large solid node in his groin. We will do a biopsy tomorrow, but the outcome is poor in any country if he has the advanced disease we fear he has.

While empty beds are hopefully a good sign, thus is not always the case. This was the bed for the boy who fell off the horse. He died last night at 9 PM with his mother and our nurses nearby.

Michael

Empty bed

Posted at 08:56 AM in PENN MEDICINE in Haiti |

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    This blog is organized and maintained by David S. Smith, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania. His subspeciality is anesthesia for patients undergoing neurosurgery. For the past 6 years he has had responsibilites for patient safety and clinical care quality improvment in a Department of over 65 faculty who provide anesthesia care for about 24,000 patients each year. Correspondance can be sent to [email protected]
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