I slept in the dirt and gravel outside of the UN hospital after I relieved the doctors last night (see the photo above). I was awake off and on throughout the night for the few hours that I laid down but I was suddenly shaken awake at about 3:42 am to a tremor. It was a bit startling but I just went back to sleep. I talked to one of the guys that has been working with us and he said that he ran outside when the tremor happened because everyone is still very twitchy about the stability of the buildings that are still standing.

It was an unbelievable day! Before I tell you about it, you need to learn about the fine art of cup showering. That is how it gets done around here since there is no running water. You see there is just a five gallon bucket in the bathroom with a bowl floating in it. I'm not sure how water can be colder than air but, just like KY Jelly, it is. So my strategy is to fill the bowl then dip my hand in it and splash the water on a section my body. Then soap. Then I move on to the next part of my body. Then I go back and rinse each part. Now Bill, on the other hand, pours the water over his head while squatting and somehow manages to get his whole body wet. Then soaps. Then he rinses by pouring two cups over his head. Good grief. Three cups total.

It has been a long but intense day. We started out by going to the UN field hospital to tell them that we thought we had a workable solution for the lack of operating rooms. All we needed was to have an engineer certify the building as safe. At the UN they were excited but they sent us on a bit of a wild goose chase looking for an engineer.

Roads are beyond horrible and this passage has been tedious and painful. We are four hours outside Port au Prince and just received word that Pastor Devarese's wife is dying at the UN hospital in Port au Prince due to complications from her compound fracture of her leg. She has maggots (can be good because it keeps the wound clean) but she is having renal failure. We are praying and driving while we are trying to make calls to get his wife air lifted. [Update] Pastor Devarese's wife has an open pelvis fracture. There are no operating rooms. There are surgeons at UN hospital but no place to operate. We are scrambling to get something up that is structurally safe. Biggest problem is there is no place for post-operative care. These conditions are bad! The worst I've ever seen.

Disaster work is always a lesson in patience. Our first vehicle broke down and we were on the side of the road with local guys climbing underneath it trying to get it running while little kids scampered around giggling at us. We ended up transferring our bags to a small pickup truck and Linda Markee and I crammed into the front seat for a long trip over dirt mogles. Eventually we teamed up with Pastor Delamy. He is friends with Dr. Joe and Linda Markee. He had two Toyota Land Cruisers and a large truck for our supplies. We are spending the night in Dr. Joe's clinic with the plan to be on the road by 6:00 or 6:30 AM. We are hoping to meet up with a pastor from Port au Prince that has a church just a few miles from the airport. We may be able to set up our clinic there and start treating the injured. We are very eager to get to work.

Supplies on the runway in Port au Prince prevented us from landing. We landed in the north part of the country and we are driving in. We can only go 1/2 way today because it is not safe to travel at night. Right now I'm in a 4x4 on the side of the road while the driver is out trying to buy some gas. It may be a long trip. I suspect that the capital airport will most likely be closed the rest of the day. The US military is controlling the airspace but they are struggling to mobilize the supplies off the runway. There wasn't room on our plane for my backpack. I was allowed to pull some things out so I have my stuff in some plastic bags that have now been crammed into other duffels. I forgot to pull out my Leatherman (oops) and I opted not to take my sleeping bag. They say they will get the rest of our stuff to us but I have my doubts.

We flew into Ft Lauderdale last night, slept for a couple of hours and we are now back at the airport where we are waiting to board our charter flight. We had to weigh all of our supplies and our bodies and we will maximize our plane's capacity. We will fly in darkness and land in the Bahamas to refuel 1/2 way to Haiti. We are hoping to get into the airport but all is still up in the air (so to speak). The charter company guy says that most people don't know the "land at sunrise to refuel" trick and that will be to our advantage. Later flights are much less likely to get in.

Today has been a wild day of packing, planning, interviews and seeing patients. I received a call from Medical Teams International and they asked me to join their team that is leaving Thursday morning. I will be helping with medical duties as well as helping them with the needs assessment as they begin to put together the longer term plan for the upcoming weeks and months. I am exceedingly grateful for my office staff (Stef, Dana, Cindy, Chelsea, and Darlene). They worked very hard today to reschedule patients and clear my schedule. Thanks to Dr. Ingela Thomsen for taking my call and covering for me when I'm gone. Thanks to Dr. Haydu and the rest of the team at Promptcare for adjusting things so I could leave. Going on a trip like this is similar to being an astronaut on the space shuttle. As the rocket is beginning to rumble and lift off of the launchpad they must be aware of the fact that they are the fortunate folks that have the honor of the ride. They know full well that they didn't build the rocket. It takes an army of people to make a relief effort like this even possible. Thank you to the folks at Medical Teams International for their never ending commitment to being there when they are needed. I am blessed by your work and pray that we will be a blessing to the people of Haiti.

The most powerful lesson here is not so much Jack Welch’s ability to bounce back but, rather, the impact of his manager. It is worth remembering next time you have a colleague or friend that experiences an adverse event.

I don't think that you will be able to look at things the same after watching this. He is an outstanding example of resiliency. He remained committed, he believed that he could impact his situation and he learned from his feedback (so to speak). What are your thoughts?