Turtle Creek therapist helps treat Haiti earthquake victims
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Denise English sent an e-mail to her family Tuesday from Deschapelles, Haiti, a rural town 70 miles north of Port-au-Prince, saying she thought she'd been in an earthquake.
The Turtle Creek physical therapist wondered in her e-mail if the story would make the news, her husband, Dr. Dennis English, said yesterday.
The seismic event had been mild at the Hopital Albert Schweitzer, where Ms. English is the director of the Rehabilitation Technician Training Program. It was her daughter, Erin, of Santa Fe, N.M., who informed Ms. English that the earthquake, with an epicenter near the country's capital, had not only made the news, but was leading it.
"It was a very strange disconnected feeling," said Ms. English, 58. "I was surprised that such a huge earthquake was being reported. The quake here was not nearly as violent. We had no reason to suspect what was happening in Port-au-Prince."
But in the days since, she's seen the aftermath of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that killed an untold number of people and brought the country to a standstill. Survivors of the earthquake have been flocking to the Hopital Albert Schweitzer, which quickly became a "key rescue facility," Ms. English said.
Although Deschapelles was spared the damage experienced in other areas of the country, phone service is nearly impossible and Internet connections are intermittent. Ms. English was able to respond to questions from the Post-Gazette via e-mail early yesterday morning. She included in her e-mail a blog post that she wrote and that has now been added to the Friends of Hopital Albert Schweitzer blog.
In her e-mail, she said patients began arriving at the hospital before dawn on Wednesday, and the hospital staff quickly mobilized. Droves of vehicles arrived with people injured in the earthquake, and the staff searched for more beds and mattresses as the hallway, then the courtyard, filled up with patients.
"The injuries are extensive and severe," Ms. English said in her e-mail. "Amputations, burns, head, spinal cord and crush injuries. Often in combination."
First Published January 18, 2010 12:00 am
