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On Monday, when many people had the day off in observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday, hospital leaders throughout Partners were scrambling to collect and package supplies for shipment to Haiti where clinicians working with Partners In Health were caring for hundreds of people injured in last week’s devastating earthquake.
Steve Senat, an inventory supervisor in BWH OR/CSS, was set for his day off, too. With family in Haiti and Boston, he had turned his attention to relief efforts organized by a local church and neighborhood leaders. But when he received a call from his manager asking a simple inventory question, he responded by coming to work. “I figured I’m close enough (in Dorchester), I’ll just come in and help,” he said.
Good thing he did because Senat joined a crew of volunteers who packed two pallets of surgical supplies, including sponges, gloves, custom packs, masks, gowns, surgical instruments, spinal kits and other supplies, and they were facing a tight deadline to get the supplies to MGH.
“He didn’t think twice about giving up his day off, came in with a smile on his face and made sure we got our materials to MGH on time,” said Maureen Kelly, OR/CSS director. From MGH, the materials were trucked to Hanscom Airforce Base, flown to Miami and then Haiti.
Senat arranged for a box truck to transport the supplies by calling in a favor from his colleagues at Spaulding Rehab where he worked before joining BWH about a year ago.
“It was quiet in here on the holiday, like a weekend, except for all us in the OR acting like maniacs trying to get everything to MGH on time,” he said. The mood was serious, “but there was a good vibe about what we were doing.”
That vibe has carried through among many staff from Haiti who work in OR/CSS, including Carole Elysee, a 20-year veteran of BWH, and Frantz Pierre, an employee here for 16 years. This week, each described how they try to maintain contact with family in Haiti through friends, neighbors and television.
“I watch CNN to see if I recognize anyone,” said Elysee. “But you see the orphans with no food and no water, and you just want to hug your own kids.”
Elysee, Senat and Pierre spoke with hope about Haiti, detailing some of the island nation’s beauty and recent gains and advances like cell phones and other technology. “There are many beautiful parts of Haiti,” Senat said.
“It will take time, but Haiti will bounce back,” Pierre said.