I received the following from Anil on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 15:01 ET. I've also made minor spelling and grammar corrections and have tried my best to fill in missing words. I've added hyperlinks where I thought they might help.
From: Anil S. Menon
Sent at 15:01 ET/Haiti Time
I remember the smell of infection and the small room we used for triage to the OR. There were a few Haitian doctors, but most were suffering from the trauma of the earthquake, and it seemed like we would never sleep.
Now the waves of amputations have slowed, we have a handle on the closed fractures, and some endemic disease is appearing. I heard an orthopedic surgeon say "I think we just got kicked out of the OR," which can only be a good sign of the Haitians taking over the reigns. Of course there is plenty of work to last through the years, but this early evolution is good to see.
Dr. Paul Auerbach collapsed on the floor
Our fearless leader and wilderness guru, Paul, took his last meeting at noon and then collapsed on the floor. Right this moment I sit beside him as he recovers and is able to piece together a joke and has already received seven liters of fluid.
He pushed it to the last moment just like Gaby, Jonathan, Heather, Julie, Bob, and Ian. Of course we get a chance to rest unlike our patients. That's what makes it hard to leave. Like Bob said: "No matter how long you stay, you'll never be ready to leave."
I thank everyone for their support as it has really made me stronger for the mission. [I especially want to thank] Stanford, IMC and the 173rd Fighter Wing.
Anil S Menon
Sent from iPhone
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Anil Menon, MD is a clinical instructor at Stanford School of Medicine focused on surgery and emergency medicine. His research interests are Aerospace Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Wilderness Medicine. He graduated from Stanford Med in 2006, received a degree in mechanical engineering in 2003 and became a full ER doctor in 2009. He has practiced medicin in combat in Afghanistan and will be practicing aerospace medicine next year at NASA. Menon is a flight surgeon assigned to the 173rd Fighter Wing (F-15s) of the Oregon Air National Guard, and he's part of a team sent to Haiti by Stanford.
This entire series is chronicled under the HaitiDrDispatch tag