NewsLine - December 2010 - (Page 30)

Short Takes Two Members Bring Their Expertise to Haiti January 12 will mark the oneyear anniversary of Haiti’s catastrophic, 7.0 Mw earthquake. While an estimated 230,000 people died, 300,000 were injured and 1.3 million were left homeless. It is not unusual for NHPCO members to step up during times of crisis. Here is one example of this generosity of spirit…. Helen Allums and her colleague, Janice Hoit, of Hospice & Palliative Care of Northeastern Illinois knew that their nursing skills were desperately needed as they headed for earthquake-ravaged Haiti last February. After an arduous trip that included commercial and small aircraft flights and a rough bus ride, these two longtime hospice nurses found themselves assisting with every kind of medical situation imaginable— from infections and broken bones to dehydration and illnesses brought about by the growing sanitation problems. They had actually planned this trip long before the tragic earthquake as members of a church-mission program to provide 30 NewsLine medical care at a children’s orphanage. Instead, they spent an unforgettable week in Haiti, providing medical care to both adults and children, several hours each day at make-shift outdoor clinics. “We did whatever we were needed to do medically,” says Allums, a resident of Algonquin, IL. “We saw groups of children who had lost their families in the earthquake and were living in the streets. The orphanages are overcrowded. There is so much need there— need for care, housing, medical supplies, and for people to help.” Allums and Hoit, along with their husbands and 25 other members of the church-mission group, traveled to Cayes, about 90 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake, bringing with them 50 duffel bags full of clothing and medical supplies. The group was housed on the property of a local orphanage and were constantly surrounded by children who craved care and attention. As a hospice nurse with a varied background that included work in pediatrics as well as cardiac, and knee and hip rehabilitation, Allums said that she was ready to help wherever help was needed, even in surgery. “There were a lot of amputees, a lot of open wounds, and a lot of infection,” she says. “People may have made it through the earthquake, but were now dealing with infections.” In addition to her nursing skills, her experience working with hospice patients was very helpful. “I think I helped with emotional support of those who were losing loved ones or who had lost loved ones,” Allums noted. “We saw many people, especially orphaned children, dealing with a lot of posttrauma symptoms.” A Fivefold Objective According to Allums, the ministry had a fivefold objective: to establish schools, medical clinics and orphanages, to build churches, and to fund start-up micro-businesses. “We not only went there to help, but also to help these people become more self-sufficient and, hopefully, to climb out of their poverty and catastrophic circumstances.” It is not the first time Allums has been to Haiti; she traveled there about 10 years ago on a trip that included her then-teenage daughter. “When I was there, our clinic was a table out front underneath a tree,” she said. “Our situation was very similar this time. Each day we went out, we did not know where we would be needed, what we would be doing.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NewsLine - December 2010

NewsLine - December 2010
Contents
Where Hospices are Falling Short
The Winning Quilt from Our Survey
A Message from Don
A Tour of the New We Honor Veterans Website
WHV Resources from Marketplace (display ad)
Experience the ACHC Difference (display ad)
Winning Entries from the 2010 Photo/Writing Contest
Two Members Bring Their Expertise to Haiti
State Licensing/Regulatory Resources
The Charitable Gift Annuity
Recruiting Problems? HMR (display ad)
NHPCO’s Upcoming Educational Offerings

NewsLine - December 2010