News  of AMHE Medical Relief Mission

Dialysis at General Hospital in Port-au-Prince

Dialysis at General Hospital in Port-au-Prince
We have updated infomation as of 1/21/10: There are now a total of 7 HD machines in operation including 3 Gambro machines that were brought in. 15 acute patients being treated. supplies from Fresenius arrived via chartered cargo to the Domincan republic yesterday and will make its way to PAP. on board it had 4 I STAT machines ( to measure K and creat). One to be delivered to the state university hospital .(General Hospital.)

10,000 pounds of dialysis supplies
American Society of Nephrology ,ASN has also helped to coordinate shipment of over 10,000 pounds of supplies donated by dialysis providers and industry including dialyzers, dialysis machines, dialysis fluids, sodium polysytrene sulfonate, handheld portable systems for measurement of renal function, and serum electrolytes and dialysis catheters, and to set up a supply chain to rapidly deliver these items where they are most needed in the Haiti region.
 
ASN Responds to Disaster in Haiti
A massive earthquake of 7.0 magnitude hit Haiti Tuesday, January 12, resulting in an estimated 75,000 dead, 200,000 injured, and 1 million displaced people.
The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) immediately contacted other kidney-related organizations, including the International Society of Nephrology, the Kidney Care Emergency Response (KCER) Coalition and the Florida ESRD Network, the National Kidney Foundation, the Sociedad Latino-Americana de Nefrologia e Hipertension (SLANH), and the Society of Nephrology of the Dominican Republic (SNDR) as well as dialysis providers and industry organizations. ASN also contacted the United Nations and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), numerous US government agencies, Doctors without Borders, the USNS Comfort, and Partners in Health. ASN continues to work closely with these organizations to help coordinate the nephrology community's response efforts.
Led by its Disaster Relief Task Force, ASN helped:
• Develop a protocol for crush injury currently employed in Haiti to reduce
• the incidence of AKI from rhabdomyolysis.
• Identify over 60 member volunteers to travel to the region and provide care.
• Coordinate supplies generously donated by dialysis providers and industry
• to ensure medical providers have the items needed to treat patients in crisis including dialyzers, dialysis machines, dialysis fluids, sodium polysytrene sulfonate for treatment of hyperkalemia, hand held portable system for measurement of renal function, and serum electrolytes and dialysis catheters to name a few items.
• Create a supply chain to rapidly deliver the items of greatest need.
• Support the health care infrastructure in the region.
• Establish daily conference calls for the nephrology community to coordinate
• relief efforts.
"Nearly 30 members of the nephrology community meet daily by conference call during this crisis," said Didier Portilla, MD, Chair of the ASN Disaster Relief Task Force. "KCER organizes these calls, which provide updates from nephrologists in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, assess the health care infrastructure in these countries, and identify needs for physicians and nurses," explained Dr. Portilla.
"Dialysis providers and other organizations work to target supplies to reach the areas where they are most needed" added Mark D. Okusa, MD, FASN, Chair of the ASN Acute Kidney Injury Advisory Group. "Due to logistical problems in transport to Port au Prince, Haiti, we focused on three cities in the Dominican Republic to rapidly transport supplies into Haiti," he observed.