NJ-BASED BURN ADVOCATES BRING LIFE-SAVING TREATMENTS TO CHILDREN IN HAITI
First Pediatric Laser Unit Revolutionizes Care For Catastrophic Burns Amidst Crisis
TEANECK, N.J. (02/03/20) – Last month, an international team of surgeons delivered and operated the first medical laser in Haiti. The device will be used primarily to treat children suffering from catastrophic burns.
“Catastrophic burns among children are one of the worst healthcare crises in Haiti,” said Samuel Davis, founder of Burn Advocates Network. “There are thousands of children suffering from devastating burns in a country with only a handful of burn practitioners and crushing poverty.”
Burn Advocates Network (BAN), a Teaneck-N.J.-based nonprofit, recently donated a Lumenis Ultrapulse laser to Sacre Coeur Hospital in Milot, Haiti. Manufactured in Israel, this CO2 laser is the most powerful and reliable for treating burn scars, according to Davis. Laser treatment is simpler and safer than traditional surgery, which can put patients at significantly greater risk for deadly complications including infection, he said.
On Jan. 5 - 7, BAN sponsored a mission to Haiti led by medical professionals from Israel’s National Burn Center at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, home to the Middle East’s only center for laser treatment and research in burns, Israel Pediatric and Aesthetic Reconstructive Laser Surgery Cneter of Excellence, which broke ground one year ago.
During a medical teaching process known as “Grand Rounds,” the international team of burn care experts mentored thirty surgeons, nurses and therapists representing six hospitals in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The mentors gave lessons on how to use the specialized laser and other state-of-the-art techniques for treating severe burns in children.
The visiting medical team also performed several successful laser surgeries on young patients with life-altering burn scars, as local medical professionals observed and assisted the procedures.
“While some procedures are cosmetic, the laser treatments in conjunction with physical therapy can really help with mobility,” said Kerri Gallagher, a registered nurse at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. “Such a simple procedure can give a kid the ability to stretch the arms again.”
Gallagher was among the American medical practitioners who joined the BAN mission to Haiti.
CHILDREN ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY VICTIMS OF BURNS
“When you can only hope to earn about two dollars a day, parents in Haiti often have to leave their children at home unattended,” Davis said. “And in everyone’s home is a coal-burning cooking device called a ‘réchaud’ which is fired up for about eight to ten hours a day. When you have a very hungry child, and you have that smell coming from this device, their first reaction is to look more closely and stick their hands in it. When no one is able to watch them, the kids frequently topple over the réchaud in terrible scalding incidents.”
Most burn-causing accidents are entirely preventable through education, Davis noted.
“We need to teach kids to keep a safe distance from the réchauds, and stay away from matches, gasoline, and fallen electrical lines,” he said.
10 YEARS SINCE EARTHQUAKE CAUSED COUNTLESS BURNS
During the massive earthquake that hit Haiti 10 years ago, countless réchauds were launched, spilling their scalding contents which caused wide-spread burns. This tragedy is what first prompted BAN’s on-going involvement in Haiti’s burn crisis.
The recent mission marked both the 10th anniversary of the earthquake and of the Burn Advocates and Sheba’s first visit to the country. BAN delivered 50 tons of medical supplies on Royal Caribbean cruise ships, which docked at the neighboring port town of Labadee. Then General Yitshak Kreiss led a disaster relief mission by Sheba, which landed a mobile field hospital just 72 hours after the earthquake. The Israeli mission is widely credited with saving hundreds of lives being the first off-island country to deliver definitive trauma care.
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ABOUT BURN ADVOCATES NETWORK
Burn Advocates Networks provides access to free specialized medical care to pediatric burn survivors in resource-challenged countries. It has sponsored annual burn camps in Israel, India, Brazil and Haiti. BAN plans to expand its I-PEARLS laser satellites with a focus on restoring the spirit as well as healing the scars in disadvantaged populations where these services are needed most.
For information, visit: burnadvocates.org
MEDIA CONTACT
Contact Dena Grushkin, Communications Director, (201) 314-6649, Dena@burnadvocates.org