Bill Devir's Report from Haiti

At our monthly luncheon on March 25, 2010, Dr. Jim Lehner gave a slideshow presentation on his service in Haiti.  For everyone there, it was a tremendous story of service, faith, and world cooperation in the face of great need.

At that luncheon, we also learned that Dr. Lehner is not alone among our club members who have served in Haiti.  Bill Devir went to Haiti as one of the first responders to the tragedy.  He is the Commander of the Disaster Medical Assistance Team OH-5, which was sent to Haiti as part of the federal government's response to the earthquake.  I've asked him to give a short report from his time helping the people.  Below is that report.

I had the privilege to lead a group of 34 federal medical responders, the Disaster Medical Assistance Team OH-5, as part of the US Department of Health and Human Services response to the Haiti Earthquake, in coordination with the US Department of State and international medical responders from over 30 countries. Our team took over the site of the Israeli Field Hospital, and provided medical care to 600 patients over the course of 10 days. At the combined US DHHS sites in Haiti, medical personnel have treated more than 29,300 patients. They have performed 139 surgeries and delivered 33 babies. Members of the NDMS Disaster Mortuary Response Teams continue operations in Haiti today, identifying the remains of US citizens for return to their families in the United States.

The National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) was designed twenty five years ago as part of an integrated national response, temporarily augmenting state and local authorities in dealing with the medical impacts of major peacetime disasters. The NDMS can also provide support to the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs medical systems in caring for casualties evacuated back to the U.S. from overseas armed conventional conflicts. The NDMS provides medical response to a disaster area in the form of personnel, supplies, and equipment, patient movement from a disaster site to unaffected areas of the nation and within the U.S., can provide definitive medical care at participating U.S. hospitals in unaffected areas. The NDMS team members have non-federal jobs and become federal employees intermittently to support a disaster. NDMS falls under the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within DHHS. The OH-5 team is based in Dayton, Ohio, and has responded to Hurricanes Frances, Katrina, Gustav and Ike, and its members responded to Pennsylvania, Washington DC and New York City as part of the health and medical response to the attacks of 9-11. This was the first international deployment for our team. Drawing on my personal international experience, we were able to work with local nationals to source Creole translators as well as local labor to assist with our disaster medical operation.

This picture shows Bill Devir comforting a Haitian infant in the care of Disaster Medical Assistance Team OH-5 at the Thebaud Field Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Five Facts from Hildreth Lecture

On March 25, 2010, ND physics professor Michael Hildreth gave a Hesburgh Lecture to over 50 people on his work with the Large Hadron Collider.  The lecture was given in conjunction with the Physics Department at the University of Dayton.  Below are five facts that we learned from the lecture:

1. The Large Hadron Collider (“LHC”) is located on the border between Switzerland and France. It is the largest international research project ever conducted. Both French and English are spoken at the site.

2. The LHC is a 17-mile-long, underground pipe in the shape of a circle. It is the largest machine ever made.

3. The LHC recreates conditions as they existed 1/10 billionth of a second after the Big Bang.

4. For the first time ever, the LHC will begin colliding particles under research conditions next week, on March 30.  (There will be a webcast of the event.)

5. Despite the claims of some, the LHC will not destroy the planet. Scientists don’t even know if ‘black hole’-type conditions could be created at LHC. Even if they could, they would last for so short a time and be so small, that nothing would come of it.

Dr. Lehner's Report on Haiti

One of our own has just returned from Haiti.  Dr. Jim Lehner is an orthopedist who provided medical service to the people of Haiti affected by the earthquake.  His work was coordinated through the Notre Dame Haiti Program, which is featured as part of the "What would you fight for?" ads during the football games.

Dr. Lehner will attend our luncheon on March 25 at noon at the Dayton Country Club.  He will bring pictures with him, so plan to come for a firsthand account.

The picture to the right is one that Dr. Lehner took.  It shows Frs. John Jenkins and Tom Streit.  (Fr. Jenkins is the President of the University of Notre Dame and Fr. Streit is the Holy Cross priest who is featured on the "What would you fight for?" ad relating to the curing of people with lyphatic filariasis, more commonly known as elephantiasis.)



The following is a letter that Dr. Lehner sent to me describing his work:

Marty:


Just got back from working with the Hospital Sainte Croix in Leogane, Haiti. I was the "team 6" (sixth week) Orthopod with the disaster relief team in Leogane, centered out of the Notre Dame house where the filariasis research project was going on before the quake. After the quake, the house let some ND grads go wild with first quake relief out of the standing nursing building (the old Hospital Sainte Croix was destroyed) and as of 2 weeks ago we got a MASH type hospital (made of tent material) donated by an anonymous doner (domer?). We worked helping the people of Leogane recover from this disaster. 95% of all housing is destroyed in Leogane, and ALL of the people are living in tents. Leogane was the EPICENTER of the quake, so no place else was more severely affected. More than 10% (25,000 est. out of 250,00) were killed, and we had so many injured it was considered the worst disaster the world has ever seen.

We can all be proud of "du loc" in this effort. Certainly our University has never been a health center per se in the past, but the MASH hospital is right on the grounds, and the house is (straining) letting all the volunteers live there, either in rooms they have or in tents on the grounds.

Fr. Jenkins visited this week. Brennan Bollman (valadictorian, class of 2009 and 1st year Med school Harvard) has dropped temporarily out of school to coordinate the volunteer efforts. I saw 30-50 patients each day (8 days) and did secondary surgery for the quake victims. The initial care (mostly ND people) was excellent and we are left doing the seventh week care of fractures and the severe wound follow up (skin grafts don't heal well as the nutrition is so poor, and they are living in tents or nothing.)

The ND program in Leogane is a shining example of Notre Dame at its best in service. Donations can go through the Annual Fund targeted specifically to the Leogane project. I'm sending $1000 now.

Some of our members know I've worked overseas several times before. The Bengali ND program is close to my heart, and is the first check I write every year, but this is of a scope the world has never seen. Pray for Haiti.

Thanks Marty!

Jim Lehner, M.D.

UPDATE

Below is a picture of Dr. Lehner, his nurse Diane who went with him to Haiti, and our own Joe Krug. Below that are just some of the pictures that Dr. Lehner shared with us.

Confronting Job Loss: Finding Christian Hope

The Alumni Association invites you to participate in a new online program --- Tender, Strong, and True. You can engage in spiritual discussions with Notre Dame faculty and members of the faith community live via the Internet.

The next broadcast will take place:

DATE: Sunday, March 14

TIME: 8:00 – 8:45 p.m. EST

TOPIC: "Confronting Job Loss: Finding Christian Hope"

PANELISTS: James Davis, the John F. O'Shaughnessy Professor in Family Business, and Christine Heslin Powers '90, a former executive of a nonprofit organization

MODERATOR: Monsignor Michael Heintz '08 Ph.D, director of Notre Dame's Master of Divinity program

HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN LIVE BROADCAST: Go to Notre Dame's UStream page (www.ustream.tv/notredame) several minutes before the broadcast starts. Throughout the live broadcast, participants are able to interact with each other and the panelists via Twitter or Facebook.

Mark Your Calendar

The next Tender, Strong and True broadcasts will take place:
8:00 – 8:45 p.m. EST
Sunday, April 18 – Topic is "Finding Meaning: Applying Gospel Values at Work"
Sunday, May 9 – Topic is "Discovering Your Mission: Living with God-Given Purpose"

Contact Information

For more information, contact Kathleen M. Sullivan '82MA '87PhD of the Alumni Association at sullivan.6@nd.edu or visit www.alumni.nd.edu/tst.