Helping Haiti Heal : Teaching Wound Care Basics to Haitian and Volunteer Health Care Providers to Hopefully Leave an Enduring Footprint

Independently, three wound care providers arrived in Haiti at a mission health care facility to volunteer post earthquake. Coming together as a wound care team, they discussed the challenges they would face in the work and problems that await them for the week tour. After evaluating and assessing needs at the facility and taking inventory of available products and provider knowledge of wound care, developed a plan to best utilize what supplies and devices were available to provide care. In the process, it became apparent that there was a gap in the knowledge of not only Haitian providers but the volunteer staff as well. In discussing how to help the facility best utilize the donated products and resources, they developed an impromptu wound care symposium . Using simple fruit, debridement skills were taught, advanced therapies and devices were explained, and dressing technologies explained. Enlisting the assistance from an Irish physical therapist, these techniques were demonstrated and taught. This presentation hopefully is a valuable recount of those efforts that others can improve upon in leaving a lasting footprint from their work as volunteers in third world countries and other locations.