Typhoon Haiyan Relief Effort: Trauma

It had been around ten days now since the storm had passed through. Ten days of survival. Ten days of hunger, thirst, and homelessness. Ten days of untreated injuries. Infection had made residence in their hosts for long enough for terrible effects to begin taking place. Some had fevers while others were incapacitated and bed ridden. We were there to help alleviate such injuries but despite all of our gear and collective training we were ill equipped to handle some of the traumas.

While wandering through the complex with my newly commissioned helper children I discovered a woman in such a dire state. All the others I came in contact with who needed treatment were able to at the very least limp with assistance to the EMT station but this woman was unable to walk entirely. The children grabbed my hand and led me to the home of this woman they described and I walked indoors. I found a middle-aged lady resting on a bamboo slatted bed with her foot raised. It was dim and dark inside her home especially after walking in from the bright outdoors. As she showed me her foot I saw two small holes in a patch of dead skin on the top and also a nickel sized hole in the bottom. Because of the outdoor temporary blindness I was experiencing I couldn't really see how bad it was.

After explaining to her that I was going to bring the EMTs I walked back outside and headed towards our station. The children followed me but were quickly distracted by Chantel who had started a game of red rover. I called Teejay and Arch to come with me who grabbed their stuff and followed me back. When we entered the dim-lit room her husband had come home and was waiting for us. We introduced ourselves and the EMTs started evaluating the injury. 

As my eyes adjusted while they cleaned the area I began to realize how bad the wound was. They turned their flashlights on the nickel sized wound to reveal a deep dark red exposure moving inwards with black skin decaying along the borders. The top holes were cut open somewhat more to reveal the top muscle of her foot which had been eaten away by maggots now infesting her flesh. She had stepped on a nail that had pierced her entire foot and this was the result of ten days neglect.

We were not well enough equipped for this. We were going to have to remove the decaying skin, clear out the maggots, disinfect the wound, and bandage it to prevent further contamination and spreading. Arch explained that if we had found her any later she possibly could have lost her foot completely and had the infection spread throughout her leg she could have died. This poor woman was in so much pain already and we hadn't even begun. We were going to have to conduct a surgery on this unsanitized bamboo bed with no anesthetics. We had nothing strong enough to alleviate the pain.

Some children re-congregated around us and I knew this was not going to be an event I would allow them to witness, not to mention the distraction they could pose. As I shooed them out of the house Arch and Teej explained the urgency of the situation and received permission to proceed. They asked her husband to hold her upper body and asked me to hold her leg in place while they worked. 

With razor sharp scissors they cut away the black decay from the bottom and filled it with anti-biotic powder. Our friend began crying out as the nerves had surely been effected in such a way that caused horrible pain. The EMTs then used Q-tips to swab the inner portion of her foot muscle collecting the maggots while cleaning the area. As they did this the woman began wailing, crying, and screaming out in utter misery. It required most my strength to hold her leg in place without allowing movement. She clung to her husband and writhed as the surgery continued.

My heart broke for this woman. Tears came to my eyes as I was filled with compassion and a desire for mercy for her. I wanted to take her pain away, to be done with this, and to heal her. Her screams penetrated my soul. I repeated in my mind that this was the only way, that though this was torture for her, that it would ultimately be for her welfare. We had saved her though pain was required.

The EMTs finally finished filling the wound with the anti-biotic powder and dressed it well. I stroked the mother's leg as she sobbed into her husbands shoulder. The husband thanked us and we stood to leave. Teej and Arch walked quickly back to the station. I haphazardly walked from the apartment. I was almost staggering. The surgery had drained me of so much physical, mental, and emotional energy that I was in a weak state. Couple this with little food and water and the sun peaking, I am surprised to say that I was able to function. As the scene that had just occurred replayed through my mind I couldn't help but wonder if there could have been a better way. This woman experienced such excruciating pain... I knew there wasn't, but it burdened my mind.

I walked around the corner and saw Chantel sitting there with some of the children who had helped me earlier. She was beaming and radiating light. I stopped and watched her for a moment interacting with the kids and I was immediately overcome with a feeling of rejuvenation and mental clarity. I realized again the importance of her role in keeping the children occupied. Surely if she hadn't been here the children would have come running into the house when they heard the screams. But more than that was the light she brought with her -- that inexplicable source of energy that seemed to revitalize those around her. She looked up to see me walking towards her and her smile dipped with eyebrows raised and an expression that said “Hey Mace! eh...help me out here.” I chuckled as I then saw how exhausted she had become from taking on the task of preoccupying a score of children. Her eyes reflected mine as we both felt our bodies aching for rest and nourishment. I squatted down and joked with the children and invited them to return to the station.

ZEDRU was finished packing up and were doing magic for some of the other onlookers. They looked tired too. We gathered together and walked out of the apartment complex to begin our long walk back to city hall.