Disaster aid
for Iran
Children’s staff provide disaster aid
Just hours after the December 26 earthquake devastated the Iranian
city of Bam, five Children’s Hospital Boston staff members were
on their way to join medical teams from across the world to provide
emergency relief.
When Alan Bouchard, RN, Renee Charbonneau, RN,
Gary
Fleisher, MD, Mark
Waltzman, MD, and Debra
Weiner, MD, PhD—all members of Children’s Division
of Emergency Medicine—arrived in Bam, they found the city in ruin.
Seventy percent of homes had been leveled, more than 40,000 residents
were dead and the city’s hospital had been destroyed, killing
half of the doctors who had worked there.
The clinicians worked up to 18 hours a day for 10 days, setting
up field hospitals and treating over 700 patients for neglected
lacerations, fractures and paralyzed extremities, crush injuries,
kerosene ingestion (secondary to the use of space heaters in tents)
and a variety of other quake-related problems. In addition to
treating disaster-related injuries, the team treated many common
infections such as streptococcal pharyngitis, otitis
media, bronchiolitis
and gastroenteritis. “We also had the opportunity to treat a number
of interesting cases that are quite rare in the U.S.,” says Dr.
Fleisher. “For example, we treated a child with thalassemia
for a pathological fracture caused by the bone weakening symptomatic
to that disease.”
Above and beyond any medical problems, many of the children treated
by the team had lost their entire families in the disaster. “Part
of me just wanted to reach out and hug them and take them home,”
says Dr. Fleisher. “That was the most difficult part for me.”
Despite severe conditions, limited resources and freezing temperatures,
Dr. Weiner is grateful for the opportunity to help. “The people
were in desperate need, but they were also incredibly welcoming
and grateful for our presence,” she says “This is one experience
that I will never forget.”
February
2004
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