MEDICAL MISSIONS: Dr. Dirk Parvus in Haiti

AMONG THE HUNDREDS of patients Dr. Dirk Parvus saw during a two-day clinic in Haiti last year, one stands out. It was a baby girl, carried into the makeshift exam room by her desperate mother. Severe dehydration had rendered the child lifeless and non-responsive. She couldn’t even open her eyes.

DR. DIRK PARVUS (right) with his son Chad, and their Haitian translator, Guy Morelus.

“We would have rushed in and gotten IVs going in the States,” said Parvus, who was in Haiti on a medical mission. But such stabilizing measures weren’t an option.

Instead, a nurse emptied a syringe of lidocaine and refilled it with rehydration solution. She sat with the mother and showed her how to feed some of the fluid to her daughter every few minutes.

Without treatment, the baby had a good chance of expiring, in Parvus’s estimation. So the mother’s return the next day was all the more dramatic. “Oh my goodness, it was a perfect little baby,” Parvus recalled. “You couldn’t even recognize her.”

The episode summed up the purpose of his trip.

“This is what medicine is all about. There’s no financial incentive,” he said. “It’s something you’ve got that they desperately need. And so you help.”

'Bring down a team of U.S. doctors'

Now, he’s looking at ways to help more. His vision includes regular trips to provide medical care to the poor.  Parvus, Emercency Department Medical Director of Sebastian River Medical Center, visited Haiti to see an old friend who was working with non-profit groups in and around the capital city of Port-au-Prince. During the trip, his friend introduced him to a former nurse’s assistant named Koulou.

Koulou had been working with a nurse in the impoverished Cite Soleil region near the capital. The three-square mile-area, packed with 200,000 to 300,000 people and known for gang activity, became too dangerous for the nurse, who decided to return home to Finland.

Koulou stayed on, and with no formal medical training, continued to serve as the main source of medical care for gang members. Removing bullets and treating the wounds was a typical day’s work. The situation had improved since early 2007, when United Nations forces led a crackdown on gang activity in Cite Soleil.

PARVUS CLAN: (Clockwise) Chad, Candice, Britt and Nikki saw over 250 patients in just two days.

He made Dr. Parvus an offer: Bring down a team of U.S. doctors, and he’d have people lined up to see them.

Parvus was a good choice for the challenge. Certified in family practice, sports medicine and emergency medicine, he chose to spend his career in the ER because he likes the excitement of the cases. And not just anyone could step into Cite Soleil and be productive. The area is often referred to as a slum – an all-the-more-meaningful term, considering it’s located in what’s already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Parvus, however, grew up in South Africa, and is familiar with poverty close-up.

Family Operation

And so it was less of a shock for Parvus to see people living without running water or electricity, dodging open sewage. He led a team for the clinic, consisting of Chad Parvus, Dirk Parvus’ son; Karen Hasenauer, a nurse at Sebastian River Medical Center; Amy Hasenauer, a sister-in-law of Karen’s who’s considering a career in nursing; Kris Hasenauer, Karen’s son and a Marine medic, and John and Merline Engle, friends of Parvus now living in Haiti. They provided help with translation and organization.

Koulou enlisted help from the Boston Youth Association, a service group named after the Boston neighborhood of Cite Soleil, with no connection to the Massachusetts city. Volunteers set up tarps in an abandoned schoolhouse to create examining rooms. BYA members helped check patients in and translate the Haitian Creole for the U.S. team.

As promised, hopeful patients were lined up in a queue stretching out the building and down the street. In two days, the team saw more than 250 patients.

“It’s definitely primary care,” Parvus said of the cases the team saw. Most fell under the category of infectious diseases, such as coughs and ear infections. Next were a large number of skin conditions, likely caused by unsanitary conditions. That’s also the culprit for the third-largest category of illness, gastrointestinal conditions. And finally, volunteers treated people with sexually transmitted diseases.

BRAZILIAN U.N. PEACEKEEPING soldiers outside the clinic in Cite Soleil. Discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492, Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history.

Eight U.N. soldiers provided security during the two-day clinic.

Another trip included Dirk and Chad Parvus, as well as Dirk’s three daughters, all with medical backgrounds. For Chad Parvus, a graduate in journalism from Penn State, his two trips to Haiti were life-changing. He’s planning to apply to medical schools. “Your health is so fundamental. The trips really hammered home that this is what I’d like to do,” he said.

Haiti Clinic Inc.

He’ll likely have the opportunity. Dirk Parvus and others involved in the effort have formed Haiti Clinic Inc. to continue helping provide medical care to Cite Soleil.

Another group is headed to Haiti.  Dr. Parvus will fly down to meet with the Haitian organizations that are helping him and his team plan future visits. Among them is a Catholic priest who runs a Haitian clinic that future Parvus teams likely will use.

One of the group’s goals is to help manufacture and distribute Plumpynut, a nutrition-packed food made in bars. He’s hoping the BYA can start production as a project and make the substance for people in Cite Soleil. The peanut-based product has proven to be a lifesaver in fighting malnutrition in other parts of the world.

He’s also trying to put together teams of volunteers to visit the area – just a short flight from Fort Lauderdale – for long weekend mission trips. Physicians who go get to increase their impact by carrying a pack of medical supplies, provided for free from the Missionary Assistance Program. The group gives one free pack per physician per year. People with more money than talent to donate can give $600 to fund a medical professional’s trip.

Dr. Parvus plans to do as much as he can with whatever help he gets. “If we get 52 teams, we’ll go once a week,” he said.

If Chad Parvus’ experience is any indication, response should be strong. He’s been talking up the trip whenever he can. “Not one person I tell fails to ask, ‘What can I do?’” he said.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about Dr. Parvus’ Haiti Clinic Inc., log on to: HaitiClinic.com

WELL PROTECTED: This team of eight United Nations soldiers provided security for the mission team.

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