“Fulfilling and incredible” is how Sue Cadden, RN, CWOCN, describes her experience volunteering to care for patients injured in the earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12. Sue, the Director of Sacred Heart’s Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine, found her skills and talents in advanced wound care in great demand during her stay in Haiti. 

Arriving in Haiti on Jan. 30, Sue served at the Hopital Sacre Coeur (“Sacred Heart Hospital”), operated by CRUDEM in Milot in northern Haiti. Sacre Coeur has a long-time relationship with the Daughters of Charity and was the only credentialed hospital in Haiti not damaged by the earthquake. The hospital grew from a 70-bed to a 300+ patient facility overnight after the quake struck. Sue helped staff a makeshift extension to the hospital, which was established in a cinder-block school across the street from the main hospital. Classrooms were divided into male and female wards. Each ward housed patients laying on blankets and mats on the floor,  lining the walls and the center of each ward. Sue and about 70 other medical volunteers, mostly

Sue Cadden, RN, observes a physician treating the wound of a patient injured in the earthquake in Haiti. A nurse who specializes in wound care, Sue volunteered for a week at a makeshift hospital in northern Haiti.

y Americans and Canadians, cared for patients who had been transported from Port-au-Prince and the U.S. Naval Hospital Ship “Comfort.” Dr. Robert Stanton, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon with Nemours Children’s Clinic, and Dr. Lisa Bean, a Sacred Heart OB/GYN resident, also were among the volunteers in Milot during Sue’s stay.

Literally from the moment she arrived, Sue was pressed into service.  “It was just like the TV show M.A.S.H. -- helicopters arriving and teams rushing out to get the patients and then transport them to the hospital,” says Sue. “Everyone just jumped in and started helping. Almost every patient needed some kind of wound care.”

Many patients were suffering from pressure ulcers because they had been trapped for long periods of time under rubble, and many were amputees recovering in the makeshift wards. “We saw from 120 to 150 patients per day and worked 12- to 14-hour days,” says Sue. “It was exhausting, but tremendously fulfilling. We would just go from one mat to the next. The orthopedic physician would evaluate each patient, and we (Sue and a dermatologist volunteer) would follow behind to evaluate and treat the wounds.”    

With no running water at the school, they used IV solutions to cleanse the wounds and treated them mainly with Silvadeen and Dakins. It was nursing at its very essence and in less-than-optimal conditions, according to Sue, who said the goal was to control infection and provide an environment for the wounds to heal. The care providers proved quite inventive and creative. Bleach bottles were used as traction weights and a Gomco machine was employed for suction at wound sites. To save time, Sue herself, came up with a novel kit to stock and transport adequate wound supplies.

“The culture is very different from ours”, says Sue. In Haiti, families bring the food and provide much of the care for family members in hospital.  These patients had been evacuated from Port-au-Prince and had no family, so the townspeople made and delivered meals to them and many served as interpreters. Sue and some volunteers had a chance to walk into town one day and were approached by many people who expressed their appreciation for the medical volunteers’ help. “People were coming up to us and saying, ‘God bless you’ and ‘Thank you for coming here,’” says Sue. 

As Sue was preparing to return to the states, things were improving at the hospital. Military hospital tents were being set up on the hospital grounds so that patients could be moved from the school, and the influx of new patients was declining. 

Sue, a 19-year veteran of Sacred Heart, says it was the first time she had a chance to volunteer on a medical mission, and she’s ready to go again if the need arises. “We met their basic needs and provided an environment in which they could start the healing process,” says Sue. “It was hard, hot work and you’re exhausted and emotionally drained at the end of the day, but you have an astonishing sense of satisfaction. It was just an incredible experience and a vivid reminder of why I entered the healthcare profession. I would like to thank Sacred Heart Hospital for permitting me the opportunity to go and the Wound Center’s team for their support and encouragement during my absence.”