Amputations.... Haiti's Injured Lose a Limb or Die

Just when one thinks things cannot possibly get any worse for the Haitian earthquake survivors, many of injured have had to undergo or will undergo amputations because of their infected limbs. While most of the injuries occurred as buildings collapsed, many survivors were severely injured by "amateur" rescuers who frantically dug out the trapped victims with any tools they could find, making a bad situation even more terrible.

Amputation is becoming the defining injury of the Haitian earthquake. Because of long delayed medical care, no medicine, and no antibiotics, by the time an injured survivor finally gets seen by a doctor, it is often too late. Limbs have become infected and the infection has spread. In order to save the patient's life, as a last resort the gangrenous limb must be removed.

Some of the injured have undergone their amputations in hospital settings, but many have not. During the days right after the earthquake, in order to save their lives many endured their amputations in the most primitive settings.

Doctors operated without electric power. They used instruments sterilized with vodka. The conditions were not unlike the battlefields of the US Civil war when over 30,000 amputations were done outside in tents. Battlefield doctors then were referred to as "sawbones" because of the saws they used and the many amputations they performed.

Haitian surgeons have to tell the injured, "Lose a limb or die." During the first days after the earthquake 45 amputations were performed outside in a garden, under a tin roof. Surgeons had to amputate gangrenous arms, hands feet and legs. Sterility was not an issue since the wounds were severely infected already. Iodine, morphine and aspirin were sometimes the only drugs available. Fortunately medications such as anesthesia and pain medication have now begun arriving. The US Navy Hospital Ship, Comfort is now anchored in the harbor filled with state of the art operating rooms and equipment. Many countries are also sending medical help.

In a country where survival is difficult in the best of times, existence as an amputee poses great difficulty. Rehabilitation facilities are rare. The victim, who now may no longer be able to work, will become a burden to his or her family if the family still exists. In Haiti amputees are not accepted by most of the country, and are regarded as freaks. Doctors have had to give the injured the option "Lose a limb or die." Whatever the victim decides, life as it was, is basically over.

Sources:

TBO.com

St. Pete Times

EMS1.com.