An orthopedic surgeon from Rady Children's Hospital has just returned from a week in Haiti. Dr. Hank Chambers had his hands full helping earthquake survivors.
Dr. Chambers worked in a hospital about 100 miles north of Haiti's capital. Patients were flown in by helicopter from the earthquake zones. They were triaged in a school playground.
Dr. Chambers worked 20 hour days. In the week he was in Haiti, he performed more than 220 operations.
"Mostly we did amputations, because of the crush injuries from all of the bricks and concrete falling on them," Chambers said. "And then we also had a lot of people who had open fractures, meaning that the bone had popped out through the skin."
More than 210,000 people died in last month's earthquake in Haiti. About 300,000 were injured. Dr. Chambers says he plans to go back to Haiti in a couple of months.
