Local nurse assists in Haiti lifesaving amputations
Debra Hawk anesthetizes a Haitian victim during one of the first amputations performed after the quake hit. Photo by Dr. Mark Hyman Four days after a 7.0 earthquake hit the small country of Haiti, nurse anesthetist Debra Hawk was preparing for one of the first operations performed in the country since the devastation. A young Haitian woman was laid out before her on a makeshift operating table, her leg crushed and mutilated from the weight of a crumbled building. Hawk’s medical team knew an amputation was necessary to save the woman’s life. They also knew that a lack of water, disinfectant, electricity, and proper supplies would make the operation dangerous. Hawk found a hack saw in the rubble to sever the woman’s mangled leg with. The same saw would be used to remove roughly 100 other limbs over the course of the following week. This was the reality in which Hawk found herself only a day after leaving the comforts of her Manhattan Beach home. Hawk has been an anesthetist for the past 18 years. She had just ended her work day when the call came the night after the Jan. 12 quake. Nurse anesthetist Debra Hawk (middle), Dr. George Boutin and unidentified woman. Phot by Dr. Mark Hyman…
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