Last Clinics

26 May, 2010

We went on mobile clinics to pretty little villages—Mellier, Casale, Mattieu, K Simillien. As with the previous clinics, there were wounds, fevers, and lots of chronic disease. Most disturbingly, there were so many patients with symptoms dating from the earthquake. The stomach ache or palpitations or dizziness or headache was almost always associated with horrific loss—of property, family, friends. Gently I tried to help the patients establish a connection between the losses and the symptoms. I said that these were normal, didn’t mean there was necessarily anything wrong with their bodies, and encouraged them to talk about their feelings with family and trusted friends. I referred many to a new post-traumatic stress disorder clinic at the Doctors Without Borders hospital.

Haitian health care workers will need to learn a lot about how to care for these patients, and Haitians will need to learn to be mutually supportive to help deal with the incredible trauma that was collectively experienced. This isn’t a problem that will go away any time soon. Children who lived through the earthquake, many of whom lost parents and siblings, all of whom suffered psychological if not physical trauma, will be affected for the rest of their lives. Perhaps they will come to be known as “the earthquake generation.”