Garden City Doctors Heading To Haiti

Four surgeons from the Garden City-based Long Island Plastic Surgical Group (LIPSG) are heading to Haiti to help victims in critical condition, especially those at most risk of amputation because of untreated infections caused by the deadly 7.0 magnitude earthquake that ravaged the island nation Jan. 12.

Much of the Port au Prince population has migrated toward the Dominican Republic to receive basic medical care. Most, however, have be unable to gain access.

LIPSG Drs. Kaveh Alizadeh, Thomas Davenport, Rachel Ruotolo and Tommaso Addona, all experts in wound management, will treat patients at El Buen Samaritano Hospital in Jimani, Dominican Republic, one of five cross border recovery centers.

Several thousand Haitians are depending on these recovery centers for their urgent medical needs. An estimated 40 percent are children, according to UNICEF.

Drs. Davenport and Addona are Garden City residents. They and Dr. Ruotolo were in surgery during a press conference Friday at the legislative building in Mineola where Legislator Rose Marie Walker, Nassau County's Health Committee chair, thanked them for their efforts.

Dr. Davenport will be working at the recovery center Feb. 8-11, along with Dr. Alizadeh, LIPSG president. Drs. Addona and Ruotolo will then head down Feb. 12-17.

"The Long Island Plastic Surgical Group has been in this community providing service for the indigent population in our own backyard since 1948 so what we're doing in Haiti is really no different than what we do every day, day in and day out, providing care for the patients who need it, whether burn patients or trauma patients or cancer patients," Dr. Alizadeh said. "So we really see this as an extension of what we do every day in our community here."

The doctors will be setting up camp in a town on the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. "There's really not that much in terms of services being provided outside of Port au Prince," Dr. Alizadeh said. "There's some amazing organizations globally that have a presence there but from our communication with doctors on the ground, unfortunately, there's not as much care being provided to a lot of their population that has left and has gone toward the Dominican Republic but has not gained access."

Dr. Alizadeh hopes that through their efforts, they'll at least be able to provide as much as some "cleansing and prevention" of patients who already have infection to hopefully "salvage" some from getting amputations.

"The road is long for a lot of these patients as far as rehabilitation. We actually have an affiliation through our foundation with a charity organization, and through our friends in our backyard again, here at Winthrop-University Hospital, North Shore University Hospital, Southside Community Hospital, we're hoping to bring some of the children that will not be able to get some of the more complex care back home," Dr. Alizadeh said.

Legislator Walker praised the doctors for their efforts. "I'd like to thank these local doctors for taking their time, their expertise, going to Haiti to perform surgery to help earthquake victims to hopefully avoid amputation by the wound care that they can give," she said at Friday's press conference.

Sam Kille, director of public relations for the Nassau County chapter of the American Red Cross, said what took a matter of seconds to destroy is going to take years to rebuild.

"The relief operation going on in Haiti is a large one. It is a global operation," Kille said. "There are many hospitals that are up and running now. Supplies are finally starting to get in. But this is going to be a long operation. Not only are we providing for the immediate needs of food and water and trying to get shelter for the people that live in Haiti, we are worried about disease and injuries, which will lead to things like amputations."

On Feb. 5, the Red Cross, together with UNICEF and the United Nations, kicked off a massive immunization program in Port au Prince. They plan to immunize at least 150,000 children in the coming weeks to help prevent the spread of disease like measles, mumps, whooping cough (pertussis).

"This is going to take years for the people of Haiti to recover. The Red Cross plans to be there for a long time, as well as many partners in the global community. It's really admirable that these doctors are heading out there to help in this," Kille said.

He further thanked Long Islanders for all their gracious donations but pleaded that continued funds are needed to rebuild water systems, sanitation systems and hospitals and "everything else to help these people get back on their feet."

Participating in volunteer missions throughout impoverished areas is a core belief of LIPSG. These doctors are active in or hold positions with humanitarian organizations such as Interplast, Smile Train and Doctors Without Borders.

The doctors will share their experiences at http://www.lipsg.com/blog.