A hard day In Haiti

We had two children die today.

It's a lot to process because these children were fairly stable and would not have been in the ICU in the United States. The most recent death was after a 45 minute resuscitation. But I can say that our team worked like a well- oiled machine. I always have a pit in my stomach afterwards like I could have done better. I suppose that's not a bad thing. The cross cultural differences really impact the care as much as the lack of resources and it's not easy to get used to.

This morning's clinic had a dichotomous group of patients. They were either really sick or totally fine. Some kids would come in complaining of cough for 3 days and when I told the parents they were fine, it's a cold, and this would go away in a few days, they didn't believe me and wanted medicine. Really? It felt like the US where I write a prescription for saline drops.  The other half was a baby with a moderate congenital heart defect and a 10 month microcephalic baby with hypotonia. There is no in between.

Tomorrow is a new day. I will get rest and start the morning with rejuvenated energy.