UNC preps for Haiti patients

UNC Hospitals officials have developed a plan to receive patients transferred from Haiti who need medical assistance after last week’s devastating earthquake.

Whether patients will be transferred to the hospital and when is still uncertain.

“We’re not sure at all,” hospital spokeswoman Stephanie Crayton said.

“As the world is watching this unfold, we’re watching this unfold, too.”

The hospital could treat between 25 and 50 patients, said Dalton Sawyer, director of emergency preparedness and continuity planning.

The magnitude-7.0 earthquake hit Haiti on Jan. 12. The Haitian Red Cross estimates the number of deaths between 45,000 and 50,000.

About 1,700 U.S. soldiers are now in Haiti airlifting emergency supplies and the injured, operating the airport in the capital of Port-au-Prince and helping provide security amid reports of looting and gunfire throughout the city. Another 2,200 Marines arrived offshore Monday, bringing supplies.

Sawyer said he has been receiving calls from the U.S. government and relief organizations for days asking if UNC has the capacity to treat patients if the need arises.

The biggest needs are in pediatric, intensive care and burn units, he said.

Right after the earthquake, hospitals would have seen patients with crushed bones, other orthopedic injuries and burns, but as more time passes, UNC Hospitals will more likely receive patients with chronic conditions, he said.

“We need to make sure we evolve with the incident.”

The hospital would receive about a 72-hour notice before a patient arrives, he said. A committee of different doctors from various departments would be contacted immediately.

They would decide whether the hospital can handle additional patients, considering available beds and equipment, staffing and cost.

“We can’t put ourselves into the position where we take in more than we can handle,” because the hospital has an obligation to its current patients, Sawyer said.

There are also several cultural and language barriers health care providers must overcome to treat the Haitian patients, he said.

Haitians speak a unique version of French and Haitian Creole. The difference between Haitian French and European French is similar to the differences between Spanish spoken in South America and Spain.

Sawyer said he has been working to find translators specific to the Haitian languages if the need for them arises.

Hospital officials also have updated the hospital’s exact coordinates so military helicopters will find it more easily.

Sawyer said getting patients out of Haiti and into the United States is another challenge.

There is a lot of paperwork to keep track of the patients and make sure they have a place to go after treatment.

UNC Hospitals would absorb some of the cost of caring for the patients.

It could also be reimbursed by relief organizations or the United States government.

“We don’t want to say no to anybody,” Sawyer said. “But we want to make sure what we can do we can sustain.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.