Surgeon-in-Chief Provides Care in Haiti
Henri Ford, MD our surgeon-in-chief, is a Haitian native and arrived on scene in Port-Au-Prince on Saturday, January 16th to provide medical care. Currently he is stationed at the U.S. Embassy. We’re reprinting his first official report on his activities to intervene on behalf of children in desparate need of medical support.
“I have been on board the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson since yesterday (Jan. 17). I med-evaced a six-year-old boy who had a pelvic fracture and a ruptured bladder after a brick wall fell on his lower abdomen. I escorted him to the ship by helicopter and performed a laparotomy (abdominal surgery).
While on the ship, the Chief Medical Officer asked me to stay to help with a young girl with penetrating head trauma. A roof collapsed on her and a piece of brick was embedded in her skull with extension to the brain. Last night, we removed most of the brick. However we had another piece that I could not easily reach without doing a partial craniectomy.
I closed and the ship’s general surgeon called Sanjay Gupta [from CNN] who came out to the ship this morning and removed a piece of skull. After the operation, the helicopter took us back to the embassy. I’m about to rejoin my team after 24 hours on the Vinson.”
Dr. Ford in Action
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| Dr. Ford preparing for surgical intervention on a Hatian child in the O.R. of the USS Carl Vinson. View Photo on LIFE website. Photo Credit: US Navy |
Dr. Ford and Dr. Sanjay Gupta (CNN) examine a young trauma patient. View photo on the LIFE website. Photo Credit: US Navy |
