ArrivalAfter a 27 hour cruise to the other side of the island Hispaniola, we awoke Monday morning anchored in the crystal clear, sapphire blue waters off the coast of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We spent the next two days disinfecting the unit (the Haitians don’t have very good toilet etiquette!)—and the entire ship’s water system had
to be shut down for 12 hours in order to remove the debris (“many reams of plastic” collected in Haiti) from the condensers. On Wednesday all the staff from our unit went ashore to one of the four land based medical sites set up to triage the surgical patients
onto the ship and serve the medical/dental/optometric needs of the locals. Hundreds lined up---many waited 4-5 hours and had to be turned away and told to come back the next day. Our transport off and on the ship was a bit of a harrowing experience. We boarded the life rafts about 8 stories up and were then lowered to the water by a giant pulley system. The challenge came when we had to leap from the life boat to the hospitality boat that was taking us ashore. By late afternoon on the return trip, the waters were very choppy, which meant timing our “leap” to the 3-4 foot swells that were rocking the two vessels into each other! Fortunately we had strong Seabees hanging on from both sides. I pretty much flew through the air!! The commanders are definitely re-evaluating the whole transport process, as it does pose a bit of a safety issue! Needless to say, all patients will be transported via helicopter. We crank up the work schedule again tomorrow for the next 7 days, as all five ORs will be in full swing through the rest of our stay in the DR (April 30, I think)
to be shut down for 12 hours in order to remove the debris (“many reams of plastic” collected in Haiti) from the condensers. On Wednesday all the staff from our unit went ashore to one of the four land based medical sites set up to triage the surgical patients
onto the ship and serve the medical/dental/optometric needs of the locals. Hundreds lined up---many waited 4-5 hours and had to be turned away and told to come back the next day. Our transport off and on the ship was a bit of a harrowing experience. We boarded the life rafts about 8 stories up and were then lowered to the water by a giant pulley system. The challenge came when we had to leap from the life boat to the hospitality boat that was taking us ashore. By late afternoon on the return trip, the waters were very choppy, which meant timing our “leap” to the 3-4 foot swells that were rocking the two vessels into each other! Fortunately we had strong Seabees hanging on from both sides. I pretty much flew through the air!! The commanders are definitely re-evaluating the whole transport process, as it does pose a bit of a safety issue! Needless to say, all patients will be transported via helicopter. We crank up the work schedule again tomorrow for the next 7 days, as all five ORs will be in full swing through the rest of our stay in the DR (April 30, I think)
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