. SPORTS: MEDICINE : COUNTRIES: HAITI : DISASTERS: EARTHQUAKES: Dr. Anthony Alessi: Despite the Dangers in Haiti, We Went to Offer Assistance Dr. Anthony Alessi: Despite the Dangers in Haiti, We Went to Offer Assistance By DR. ANTHONY ALESSI For The Norwich Bulletin Posted Feb 13, 2010 @ 11:33 PM Last update Feb 14, 2010 @ 12:01 AM Norwich Bulletin<http://www.norwichbulletin.com/carousel/x1025062471/ Dr-Anthony-Alessi-Despite-the-dangers-in-Haiti-
we-went-to-offer-assistance> A shorter URL for the above link: <http://tinyurl.com/ygfg7t5>A journey that changed the lives of 15 American health care workers began Jan. 29. I had the honor of being a part of this group. Our departure from Fort Pierce, Fla., was the culmination of 17 days of mental and physical preparation that began when an earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
I was the only person in the group who had been to Haiti. My previous three trips were all made with the Norwich-based Haitian Health Foundation to work at its clinic in Jeremie, Haiti. Each trip has been filled with its own memories and lessons, but even I had no idea what was in store for us.
The medical mission we embarked on was sponsored by the Passionist order of Catholic priests, nuns and brothers. The majority of the group was from St. Peters Church in Greenville, N.C. The remaining four of us were all from The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich: Dr. Tom Bell, a trauma surgeon; his wife, Patty, a surgical nurse; Cynthia Davis, a critical care nurse; and myself, a neurologist.
Our destination was St. Damiens Hospital in Port-au-Prince. Its namesake, St. Damien of Molokai, was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium who recently was canonized a saint. After a dedicated life of caring for the needs of people suffering from leprosy in Hawaii, he died from that disease in 1889.
The hospitals founder, the Rev. Rick Frechette, a Passionist priest and physician, has been caring for the sick and poor of Haiti for more than two decades. St. Damiens was part of an evolution of facilities that began with an orphanage in 1987, and is now a premier health facility in Haiti.
Roadblocks of corpses <snip> Think positiveAs a sports medicine physician, I have worked with many successful athletes and have found that a large part of their success is based on the ability to visualize a situation and remain focused on accomplishing the task at hand. Any thought of failure at the time of execution almost guarantees a bad outcome.
Given this insight, I felt that seeing a number on my arm as I tried to help someone might cause me to pause and possibly not be as effective. I also knew that I had to be on top of my game while there.
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