My most difficult night in Haiti

This child was admitted to the center
around 4pm on Friday. She had mild
Kwash and a fair amount of skin
infection. She clenched her jaw when
we tried to feed her. She was alert
and without fever. We decided if she
would not eat by morning we would
transfer to the hospital for a feeding
tube. At 1 am (Sat) the nurse knocked
loudly on our house door. She told me
the child had developed a fever and was
unresponsive. The mother had the child
wrapped in a blanket right outside the
house. I felt the child...she was very
warm, she was frothing at the mouth; I
couldn't see her breathe and I could
not feel a carotid pulse. I quickly
got the keys to the vehicle and drove
them with the nurse to the hospital.
There I listened to her chest. She was
not breathing and had no heartbeat. In
the US we would have started CPR. But
there is nothing here to support
starting that. There was one nurse
sleeping at the hospital and no
materials. I told the mother her child
had died. She wailed in the peds
department. Then I had to call Sister
Mary Ann to find out what to do with
the mom and the child. She told me to
wrap up the infant and take her and the
mom home. The nurse rode with me. At
1:45am I dropped off the mother and her
infant at a dark house on the outskirts
of Haiti not knowing what she would
do. I didn't get much sleep that
night. Oh, are we blessed in the US
for all the resources and services we
have!