When Grady meets Haiti

A contribution from MS4 Beth Carpenter:
One of the universal agreements among Emory-trained surgeons is a shared gratitude for trauma training at Grady Hospital.  As a student myself who rotated on trauma surgery at Grady during my third year surgery clerkship, it was always fascinating to see how effectively a group of strangers can come together in the trauma bay to save someone's life with very little time and often very little information.
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​On Friday (the last operative day for the Week 1 team), we had a slower day to accomodate the international symposium being hosted at the hospital by our oral and maxillofacial (OMFS) team.  After a morning operating, the team was headed back to the house for lunch when Dr. Jean Charles (local Haitian anethesiologist) requested Dr. Lynde's assistance securing a difficult airway.  However, when the team and Dr. Painson (local Haitian general surgery attending) reached the patient in radiology, it was clear that this patient needed to be taken urgently to the OR.

This patient had suffered a blunt injury to his neck, which devolved into a rapidly expanding hematoma compressing his trachea.  Within minutes this patient was transported to the OR where the team secured his airway with an emergent tracheostomy and performed a neck exploration, ligating a bleeding branch off the external carotid artery.  The initial team was composed of Dr. Lynde and Dr. Charles delivering anesthesia and Dr. Sharma, Dr. Painson, surgery chief resident Stuart, OR nurse Lauren, and scrub techs Curtis and Donny operating/assisting .  Our OMFS team Dr. Roser, and OMFS residents Brian and Mikey came in to assist once we controlled the bleeding in the neck and discovered an additional large laceration of the soft palate.  The medical students and additional OR personnel assisted in opening equipment and running to our supply room for additional needed supplies.
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​I think all of the Week 1 team and our local hospital staff colleagues would agree that it was teamwork that saved this patient's life.  Our patient is currently doing well and recovering in the hospital.

Dr. Sharma and Dr. Stuart Hurst.

Curtis and Donny improvising vessel loops from a penrose.

Lauren: circulator, supply Mary Poppins, scrub nurse, OR coordinator, etc.

Stuart Hurst and Dr. Painson shaking hands at the end of the case, quickly joined by Dr. Sharma and Dr. Lynde.

Our team formally debriefed when we got home, led by Dr. Lynde.