Oklahoma Doctors Providing Medical Missions in Haiti

By Jon Jordan, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A group of Oklahomans put their lives on hold to provide medical care in Haiti.

The team of nine traveled to Haiti earlier this month as part of a medical mission trip organized by Journey Church.

The team worked out of Mission of Hope's camp located just outside of Port Au Prince where the earthquake struck.

"They commandeered a laboratory room for the clinic and outfitted it to become their operating room," said Dr. Jeffrey Nees, one of the doctors on the team that traveled to Haiti.

Their 10 day stay included anything from providing assistance at the camp's outpatient and mobile clinics to performing surgeries, and all of it was done in areas never intended for providing medical care.

"It was just a school building, open windows, no air conditioning, no fans, lighting only from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., patients on mattresses on the floor being cared for by our nurses, and IVs literally being hung from nails on the wall because there were no IV poles," Nees said. "Our operating room had no anesthesia machine, no ventilator to control artificial breathing. We didn't even have oxygen bottles."

The group's medical mission trip was one of two that has been arranged through Journey Church. Another group is currently in Haiti.

"We're in our profession for a reason, and we have gifts we are very good at. And to get that opportunity to share those gifts with someone that so desperately needs help, that just meant more to us than anything," said Bonnie Rainbow, a nurse who also traveled with the group to Haiti.

But many team members agreed, the biggest satisfaction was that got see the impact they were having.

"I just kept saying these people truly amaze me because with so little they have they are so happy and just full of love," said Barberetta Chambers, one of the nurses on the medical mission.

Nees said one of the most surprising things he saw on his trip was that Port Au Prince was already showing signs of life again.

"You get the sense from them, they need just a little bit of help. They are so thankful for every little thing that you do, but they can bounce back from this. It is by no means a broken population," Nees said.