I heard some stories today. A team reached a very remote area and found a young woman with a very badly crushed foot. It was almost falling off. The team explained that she would need to come to the hospital and that, unfortunately, she needed to have an amputation. Her family refused because an amputation would mean that she would never be “beautiful” again. The alternative was that she would die of septicemia. It took a lot of discussion and the family reluctantly agreed to send her to the hospital. These situations are always very difficult, and they always begs the question, “Who was right?”
We also have heard stories about people trying to steal children, across the borders. Heart-breaking. Glad to hear that the rules are clamping down to decrease the chance of children being mistreated.
It seems that after the tsunami in Aceh, the majority of patients in the hospital were men. Here in Pakistan, it is mostly women and children. To see a child smile when they receive a little toy (donated by a Canadian) is heartwarming.
A snow coyote attacked a child yesterday. Rare and unusual things happen after an earthquake.
Last night, there was an earthquake in the middle of the night. Very traumatic for those who survived the last one. All the patients in the middle of the night ran outside the hospital. Parents frantically ran outside leaving their children inside. Is it survival of the fittest or just sheer terror? The latter, I think.
The disaster is now in the subacute and early rehabilitation phase. It appears that the biggest need now here is for rehabilitation specialists, physiotherapists and prosthetic specialists.
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