Haitian Patients Receive Help From U.S. Hospitalists

Dr. Jaffer said that he was struck by how calm everyone at the hospital was. “I was amazed with how patient people were,” he said. “I did not ever see anybody in my 5 days there getting angry with anyone else. … I was amazed at how patient these Haitian people were with both each other and the help they were getting from people around them.”

On the other hand, “there was a lot of fear in these people's eyes and their body language. We would talk to them about what their fears were, but the truth of the matter is there was no systematic way to address that.” Addressing the posttraumatic stress disorder after such an event “is something we need to think about,” said Dr. Jaffer, adding that he saw no psychiatrists or other mental health professionals while he was there.

Dr. Luly-Rivera urged other hospitalists to spend a few days helping out in Haiti. “As hospitalists, a lot of people are scared to go there,” she said. “They don't know what to expect. You're not just doing hospitalist work. You're doing everything. You're just there to take care of patients in whatever way you can. The experience was so rewarding for me. I want to go back. But it does take a toll on you. You come back changed.”

Dr. Lisa V. Luly-Rivera of the University of Miami put her hospitalist skills to use during a 5-day visit during the second week following the earthquake in Haiti.

Source COURTESY AMIR K. JAFFER

Among the U.S. physicians responding to the crisis in Haiti were Dr. Mario Reyes, chief of hospital medicine at Miami Children's Hospital; Dr. Barth Green, chief of neurosurgery at the University of Miami and a founder of Project Medishare; and Dr. Amir K. Jaffer, chief of hospital medicine at the University of Miami.

Source COURTESY AMIR K. JAFFER