When disaster strikes, some are content to do nothing. Others are moved to send money and supplies.
And then there are special folks like Kim Warda, who take a break from their everyday lives to give of themselves.
The 39-year-old Oxford resident and Emergency Room nurse at Beaumont Hospital-Troy spent Feb. 11-17 in Haiti helping treat injured adults and children as the tiny Caribbean island nation continues to recover from the 7.0-magnitude earthquake it suffered Jan 12.
‘The pictures on the news are just barely a glimpse of what it’s actually like,? Warda said. ‘It’s just total devastation. The people really have nothing. These people are living in conditions that are just beyond horrible.?
Warda was part of a group of 21 doctors, nurses and pastors who traveled to Haiti through a joint venture between Hope International Ministries, based in Fort Myers, Florida, and the University of Miami’s Project Medishare.
‘I’ve always wanted to go on these types of medical mission trips and it’s really never worked out,? she said. ‘This time it worked out for me. I was just chomping at the bit to get down there.?
Her week in Haiti was certainly no vacation as she worked 18-20 hours per day helping people in a makeshift hospital comprised of various tents donated by Cirque de Soleil, all of which were located about 100-150 yards off the tarmac at the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital city.
‘There were six hospitals in the city of Port-au-Prince and now, there’s only one left that’s partially standing,? Warda said. ‘All the rest collapsed during the earthquake.?
Warda’s makeshift hospital consisted of a large tent that housed about 200 adult patients, another tent that housed both pediatrics and the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and a 20×20 canopy tent that served as the Emergency Room (ER).
The injuries she treated ranged from infected wounds stemming from the earthquake to fresh wounds of a man-made nature.
‘We were seeing a lot of gunshot wounds and stabbings from food riots,? Warda said. ‘We had a lot of those.?
She also dealt with many injuries that resulted from auto collisions and accidents with pedestrians.
Apparently, many of the homes and other residential structures are unsafe to live in, so people are pitching tents and camping out in the streets.
‘People are literally stepping right outside their tents and getting hit by motorcycles or cars. The streets are very narrow there,? Warda said.
But not every Haitian at the hospital was there due to injury. Some simply had no place else to go.
‘We had one child that had been brought to us that had been found left in a dumpster,? Warda said. ‘We had another child there because both his parents and all five of his siblings were killed in the earthquake. None of his neighbors knew what to do with him.?
‘There was story after story like that,? she noted. ‘These people have literally lost everything.?
A typical day would find Warda working 12 hours in the ICU, plus another six to eight hours in the ER, depending on what was needed.
The limited medical supplies and equipment coupled with the lack of appropriate facilities forced the doctors and nurses to be inventive and grow as both professionals and people.
‘It was a very different practice (down there) medically than it is here in the U.S.,? Warda said. ‘As medical personnel, we were stretched in a very good way.?
‘Up here, we’re so used to if you need a supply, it’s right here at your hand,? she explained. ‘Down there, we were lucky if we had a particular supply. We had to be very creative in how we practiced a lot of the medicine we did.?
For example, there were no wheelchairs, so when they needed them, they built them out of plastic patio chairs and parts from old bicycles.
‘We had to be creative with what we had,? Warda said.
She’s hoping that spirit of innovation and frugality will translate into medical practices here in the U.S.
‘We joked with the doctors that Medicare was going to love them when they came back because they weren’t going to be ordering things that weren’t necessary. They learned to do without down there,? Warda said. ‘I hope that some of the stuff I learned down there we can use up here.?
Living conditions for the medical personnel in Haiti weren’t much better than the hospital. There were no luxury accommodations awaiting the doctors and nurses at the end of their extra long shifts.
They slept in tents on the rugged, rocky ground.
‘It was difficult to sleep,? Warda said. ‘There wasn’t much sleep to be had because with us being that close to the tarmac, you heard planes coming and going all the time.?
But her living conditions were a picnic compared to what the Haitians were dealing with on a daily basis in Port-au-Prince.
‘There’d be water main breaks under the street and you could see garbage floating in the mains. They’d be dipping containers down in those dirty mains to get water. The conditions are just horrible,? according to Warda.
As far as the cleanup process goes, it appears the everyday Haitians were on their own. Warda saw them using buckets to remove pieces of concrete and wood.
‘I never saw one government worker or group there trying to clean up at all,? she said.
Even retrieving the bodies of the deceased was up to the people. Warda saw them digging through rubble, looking for body parts belonging to loved ones, so they could bury them properly.
‘Burial’s a very important thing to them,? she explained. ‘It didn’t matter what it was ? an arm, a hand, a leg ? if they knew it was their loved one, they would take it and bury it.?
Despite the overwhelming nature of the tragedy that’s befallen Haiti, Warda said it has not broken their spirit as a people.
‘The resiliency of the people is what was so amazing,? she said. ‘They were so thankful for any little thing you did for them. They would smile. They would hug you. They were so grateful.?
‘They’re living in these tent cities, just crammed in like sardines,? Warda continued. ‘And yet they have smiles on their faces and most of them are happy to share whatever they can.?
The entire experience made Warda eager to go back and continue offering her helping hands to Haiti ? or anywhere else in the world that might need her like Chile, which suffered an 8.8-magnitude earthquake Feb. 27.
‘If there was another chance for me to go, I would do this again in a heartbeat, without question,? she said. ‘I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. I grew as an individual and it stretched me in my practice as a nurse.?
Witnessing Haiti’s devastation firsthand reminded Warda of how truly blessed her own life is here in Oxford.
‘When you realize everything they’ve been through, it puts things ? the things we may think are troublesome or complain about on daily basis ? into perspective,? she said. ‘That was the thing that really hit home the most ? do we really have anything to complain about??