January 29, 2010

Genesis Surgical Nurse Responds During Haiti Earthquake

It had been a great day.

Genesis nurse Joy Sellers helped distribute food, clothing, shoes, story books, soccer balls and other gifts to about 400 children at the Lifeline Christian Mission in Grand Goave, Haiti, about 40 miles west of the capital of Port-au-Prince.

"It was a wonderful experience to interact with the children and see the smiles on their faces." says Sellers, one of five Quad-Cities women who had joined 50 others from around the United States at the mission.

Relaxing before dinner, she drifted to sleep in a top bunk on the second floor of the mission dormitory. She wasn't asleep for long. At 4:53 p.m. local time Tuesday, Jan. 12, a strong earthquake shook the island nation, waking Sellers from her nap.

"I remember hearing a rumbling and first thinking a really big truck was going by," says Sellers, a Clinical Level III R.N. who works in the Genesis, East Rusholme Street Operating Room. "But then I heard a voice from outside yelling, ‘Get out, get out, get out!' and I realized what was happening."

Sellers ran out of the building, dodging falling lockers and broken glass and negotiating steps that were swaying back and forth from the tremor. She and others sought safety in the yard of the mission compound. The only buildings that weren't heavily damaged were the dormitory, clinic and a stone and steel house built by the mission's founder. "Fortunately, we were fine," she says.

On her firstmission trip to Haiti, Sellers hadn't experienced just any earthquake. It was a magnitude 7.0 quake, one of the worst to ever hit the country. Its epicenter was in Leogane, a mere 20 miles to the east.

What was supposed to be a weeklong trip tending to the material and spiritual needs of local Haitians would became a desperate effort to save lives.

With numerous strong aftershocks toppling trees around them, Sellers and her group relocated to a nearby field.

Within minutes, the injured began gathering there too.

One Haitian man carried a baby wrapped in a blood-soaked towel.

"There was nothing that could be done," she says. "Falling debris had crushed the baby's leg, leaving only a few pieces of bone. Too much blood had already been lost."

It was the first death Sellers would see.

Fellow Quad Cities volunteer Peggy Wilson had been trapped underneath a concrete block wall that collapsed. Sellers stayed by her side, later learning Wilson suffered several broken ribs and a punctured lung.

As the after shocks continued, Sellers and others remained in the field into the night. Except for several who had flashlights, they sat in total darkness. Eventually they made their way back to into the compound looking for a place to sleep. Unsure the extent of damage to the dormitory and unable to make a thorough inspection in the darkness, they decided to sleep outside. Their Haitian interpreters stayed awake all night long, keeping watch and offering protection.

The preceding hours had been harrowing, indeed. But sleep was necessary. They knew the coming day would be a long one.

Trianing The Victims
The mission clinic had not been scheduled to open during her visit, but Sellers had felt compelled to bring medical supplies with her. With the OK from Sue Jennings, Operating Room Manager at Genesis, Davenport, Sellers had collected bandages, dressing sponges, tape, antibiotic ointment and other medical supplies from the Operating Room. They were immediately put to use treating earthquake victims.

First, volunteers had to move boxes of donations; clean up the clinic; and sort the medical supplies that had been shaken off the shelves. "Genesis can be really proud of its donation," she says. "Those supplies got us going and were used up that first day."

Many seeking treatment suffered from crushing injuries. Wounds were filled with dirt and debris. Sellers and volunteers worked to stop the bleeding and clean, disinfect and bandage their wounds. In many cases, it was impossible to suture wounds because significant tissue was missing. The few instruments available had to be sterilized in alcohol.

As the line of victims grew, an interpreter periodically announced that only those with bleeding injuries would receive medical attention. There was no way to fix broken bones.

She can't say how many patients she treated on Wednesday and Thursday following the earthquake. Nor can she say how many dead and dying there were.

"There was a guy going around making a list of the living," she says. "He said it was just easier to do that than to make a list of the dead."

Getting Home
Information about the tragedy trickled in, coming from Haitians like the nursing student who walked to the mission from Leogane. Arriving in tattered clothes and barefoot, she said she had been in the town's hospital when the earthquake hit. "She told me the hospital was leveled, and that she, a doctor and four others got out," says Sellers. "I gave her my shoes and a dress, and she went to work helping us at the mission."

Three Haitian doctors arrived on Friday, bolstering caregiving efforts, and allowing Sellers to keep watch over Wilson, whose condition appeared to be worsening. That night, Wilson was winched up to a hovering U.S. Navy helicopter and airlifted to the U.S.S. Carl Vinson, where she was treated before being evacuated from Haiti.

At 3 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, Sellers and the remainder of the American group packed into a pickup truck and a school bus for what became a five-hour trip to Port-au-Prince. At one point, all had to get out and walk single-file in front of their vehicles, crossing a bridge that had sustained a large crack in the deck.

In the chaos at Port-au- Prince airport, they waited seven hours in the sun, protected by U.S. military forces, before boarding a C-17 military transport for a flight to Homestead AFB, Florida. From there, they were bused to Miami, where they were able to book a Sunday commercial flight back to the Quad-Cities.

The quake killed 200,000 Haitians, left 250,000 injured and made some 2 million homeless, according to the latest estimates by the Haitian government.

It was a frightening experience, but not one that would keep her from returning.

"My first reaction while I was there, was no, I would not go back. But as I'm able to reflect on my experience, I feel I would," says Sellers. "The people of Haiti draw you back. They are so loving and have such a strong faith. The real heroes are the Haitian people. They're very courageous."