Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Trauma Team Makes Goodwill Mission to Haiti

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Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Trauma Team Makes Goodwill Mission to Haiti

Children’s team will visit Hopital Albert Schweitzer in order to improve trauma care

Pittsburgh, Pa. - August 14, 2003 -

A Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh trauma surgeon, nurse and biostatistician are traveling to Haiti next week as part of a goodwill mission to develop a trauma registry, perform surgeries, donate medical supplies and educate medical staff at “Hopital Albert Schweitzer.”

Traveling on Monday, Aug. 18, 2003, to Haiti from Children’s Benedum Trauma Program are: Henri Ford, MD, chief of surgery and director of the trauma program; Barbara Shultz, RN, senior trauma coordinator; and Laura Cassidy, PhD, biostatistician for the trauma program and an epidemiologist at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. They will spend one week at Hopital Albert Schweitzer.

“Our hope is to help Hopital Albert Schweitzer establish a trauma database so they can monitor trauma patients, perform detailed epidemiological studies and improve trauma care in general,” said Dr. Ford, a native of Haiti.

Hospital Albert Schweitzer, founded by Dr. Larimer and Gwen Mellon, opened in 1956. The hospital, which is located in the largely impoverished area of the Artibonite Valley, serves 258,000 Haitians living within 610 square miles.

Many roads near the hospital have been paved in recent years, leading to increased traffic as well as an increased number of trauma patients seen at Hopital Albert Schweitzer, according to Dr. Ford. He was approached about the mission by Ian Rawson, son of Gwen Mellon.

“The hospital has been challenged by the increase in serious trauma patients,” Dr. Ford said. “We want to help them understand why this is happening and offer our medical experience and supplies in order to optimize their trauma care.”

The Children’s team plans to establish a trauma database to study the causes of these injuries and the characteristics of those injured. By doing so, they will be able to appropriately target education and prevention efforts. Dr. Ford plans to perform several surgeries and the team will lecture medical staff there on the latest advances in trauma resuscitation and care.

As part of the week-long goodwill mission, Dr. Ford, Ms. Shultz and Dr. Cassidy are also taking medical supplies and sutures to donate to the hospital.

Contacts:
Melanie Tush Finnigan, 412-692-5016,Melanie.Finnigan@chp.edu
Marc Lukasiak, 412-692-5016, Marc.Lukasiak@chp.edu

Last Update
June 17, 2008

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