HELPING HANDS - CRITICAL CARE NURSE TREATS PATIENTS IN HAITI

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Joe McFadden
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AFNS) --  The earthquake that struck Haiti Jan. 12 changed the lives of countless people forever.

Perhaps no one group has been more exposed to the bare humanity of the disaster than the medics who were on the forefront, providing lifesaving care to those who survived the 7.0 earthquake.

Maj. Jon Earles, one of four critical care nurses with the 1st Special Operations Support Squadron, treated more than 100 patients during his time in Haiti Jan. 21 through 24, with other medical technicians at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

"I saw the devastation in pictures and on TV, but it was surreal to see it when we were flying over or driving through a city," he said. "There would be one building still standing and 10 in a row completely leveled. It reminded me of when I saw a building get imploded in Las Vegas. They were that flat."

The quake's aftermath also took its toll on the country's hospitals, with few left to accommodate the large number of survivors.

Part of Earles' critical care nurse training taught him to perform surgery in any area of opportunity, no matter the conditions. Teams had to use lounge chairs for operations instead of the preferred hospital operating table. But patient safety was still a priority.

Prior to the arrival of medical teams, survivors were treated with whatever crude resources that were available.

"I heard a lot about Civil War-type medical conditions using hacksaws and no anesthetics for amputations," Earles said.

"Some of the people who performed amputations weren't surgeons, and that's something you don't want to see. We saw some people with bones sticking out with no dressing on it."

One of the cases that stood out to him was a woman pulled out of a wrecked hotel who had both of her arms amputated.

"She was a beautiful, young woman, and she was left with no arms," he said. "I kept thinking, 'How is she going to feed herself? Who is going to take care of her?' "

He said he was glad to help provide safer treatment.

"No matter how much you do, you wish you could do more because there's such a great need there," he said. "But I'm glad we were able to help the people we did."