National Nurses United

Continuing Promise_FNL with art 12/22/10 6:12 PM Page 15 some of which had been placed in field hospitals without the ben- injuries in one place than I could have ever imagined. And at that, we efit of x-ray. There was evidence of a great deal of heroic field sur- only saw a few hundred of the thousands. I saw an awesome group of dedicated medical professionals who did not even seem to flinch at the gery prior to our arrival. most enormous workload that I have ever seen. This group was graThe bulk of the surgeries performed on the ship were grouped cious, patient, and kind, not only to all of their unfortunate patients under the category of "wound revision." Many of the initial crush but also to all of us arriving in the midst of this disaster as well. injuries had primary treatment in the field, including amputation. They also ask, "What did you learn?" I learned many things Many of these patients came back several times for further that I hope I do not quickly forget. debridement, assessment, and for In the mass casualty arena, one some, eventual closure. One of the "My friends ask, 'What did you see?' procedures involved a transflap I saw more extensive traumatic injuries patient can quickly turn into 10 surgeries over a two- or threegraft from the forehead of a young in one place than I could have ever week period. Planning the logischild to reconstruct his nose. I imagined. And at that, we only saw tics of their care, given limited watched the square of skin "magia few hundred of the thousands." resources, is a challenge. The cally" turn into a perfect nose. By human spirit is robust and can survive and find some glimmer the time we left the ship, we had performed 340 wound revisions. of hope, even in a catastrophe like the Haitian earthquake. I felt Interestingly, the only item that was in short supply during this honored to have been able to experience it. I left with an even time was mineral oil. deeper respect for the men and women in the U.S. Navy. I left The final count at the end of four weeks was more than 900 critiHaiti and returned home vowing never to take all of the things cally injured Haitians: 340 wound revisions, 90 femur fractures, 52 we have here for granted. amputations, 47 tibia-fibular fractures, 30 facial fractures, 29 pelvic fractures, 27 spine fractures, 15 foot and ankle fractures, 17 upper extremity fractures, and 14 cranial injuries. Tim Thomas is an operating room RN at Watsonville Community Hospital My friends ask, "What did you see?" I saw more extensive traumatic in California. RNs Lauren Aichele and Tim Thomas volunteered with the surgical team aboard the USNS Comfort, a Navy hospital ship DECEMBER 2010 W W W. N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N AT I O N A L N U R S E 15

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