Anil Menon
ANIL MENON, a clinical instructor in the School of Medicine, who focuses on surgery and emergency medicine, has been sending messages from Haiti, where he and a medical team from the school are providing care. Following is a recent dispatch.
From: Anil Menon
Date: Wed, Jan 20, 2010 at 23:07
Subject: Translater roro hiding from the sun.
The earthquake woke me up this morning, and I ran for the exit mostly because that is what I do when I see other people running and I don’t know why. In the back of my mind I wondered, as I do with earthquakes in California, why the train is operating at that time of day? This aftershock led to a few important events.
First, a Portuguese reporter got scared and jumped from the balcony of our dwelling (1 story). He was promptly surrounded by doctors . . . He might have fractured his ankle and told us that he was embarrassed by the whole event. Another doctor in our group said that he should be because 1) he demonstrated his failure to exercise good judgment and 2) demonstrated his failure to fly.
Secondly, no one at the hospital would return to the buildings. One lady told me before that when she heard a door open she would shudder with terror. No, an aftershock and people would rather die than be treated in the hospital and that’s what seemed to be happening.
In the morning very sick patients were exposed to too much sunlight. We worked to adapt and overcome by building outdoor tents, but it was still hot. Luckily supplies and help is picking up so we could get IV fluid to patients. One translator was moving beds and patients outdoors as the ones that couldn’t run refused to stay. Though he smiled in this picture , he told me he was worn out by the early morning. He was healthy.
Anil S Menon
Sent from iPhone
More news about the campus response to the earthquake is available on the Stanford Haiti Information website.
