An Idaho radiologic technologist (RT) who has been involved in longtime relief efforts in Haiti says an x-ray system that survived the earthquake is being used to examine hundreds of injuries daily.
Barb Gearhard, a radiologic technologist at the St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, helped establish x-ray services in 1997 at NPH St. Damien Hospital Haiti, a pediatric hospital in Pétionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince. She travels to Haiti two or three times a year to bring radiology services to the slum clinics around Port-au-Prince.
In October, the group installed a digital radiography and fluoroscopy system manufactured by Shimadzu Medical Systems (Torrance, CA) at St. Damien's using money donated by St. Alphonsus and an Italian charity. The machine survived the quake because it was surrounded by 8-inch-thick concrete walls.
"We couldn't put lead sheets in the walls because it wasn't feasible," she explained in a phone interview with AuntMinnie.com. "It turned out to be good earthquake protection and survived the quake, so they were up and running and taking x-rays within hours."
Before the quake, Gearhard said the system was used to take about 20 exams daily, mainly for chest x-rays of children. Many of the images showed symptoms of tuberculosis and/or malnutrition. Following the quake, the system's records show that it is acquiring hundreds of images daily, mostly orthopedic, neurologic, c-spine, and skull studies.
"There were a lot of horrific fractures, mostly involving the tibia, fibula, and the extremities," she said. "Yesterday, I looked at a 5-year-old's bilateral hands; his fingertips and one thumb had been crushed."
"The hospital continues to be swamped with patients and there are still people waiting, but they're treating everybody that comes," Gearhard explained. "Most of the injuries are fractures and wounds that are a couple of days old."
She estimated that as many as 700 patients are now in St. Damien's, a hospital that was built to house 200. Approximately 200 of the patients are children, and many are younger than 12 years old.
In 2000, her group was able to bring a portable x-ray unit that was used in the slum clinics. "We set up darkrooms in slum clinics using black canvas tents and generators for power," Gearhard recalled. "Then we took the x-ray cassettes back to St. Damien's to process in portable darkrooms and countertop portable processors."
All the slum clinics were destroyed in the quake, she said.
Helping the Haitian survivors has given added meaning to her work, Gearhard says. "I think for all of us radiographers it speaks volumes of the importance of our work," she observed. "We have the capability to change the world one image at a time, and this certainly shows it."
Numerous charities are currently active in Haiti and are helping with relief efforts. For a comprehensive list, click here.
By Donna Domino
AuntMinnie.com contributing writer
January 28, 2010
Related Reading
Haiti after the earthquake: A radiologist's story, January 22, 2010
Philips, Caritas Christi join forces in Haiti relief, January 21, 2010
ASRT donates $10,000 for Haiti disaster relief, January 20, 2010
Radiology mobilizes to help Haiti in wake of devastating earthquake, January 19, 2010
For doctors in Haiti, worst is yet to come, January 19, 2010
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