The University of Nebraska Medical Center’s second Haiti deployment team returned to Omaha this week after spending nine days treating the injured from the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Among notable reports is that of a 16-year-old Haitian girl who will receive treatment of a life-threatening mouth tumor thanks to a UNMC team member.

After evaluation, Alan Richards, M.D., associate professor of otolaryngology and head and neck injury at UNMC, concluded the tumor would take the girl’s life if she did not receive treatment that was not available in Haiti.

This information reached a hospital in Florida where, late last week, the girl was sent for treatment.
“It just so happened that her tumor was exactly the kind I treat here at UNMC,” Dr. Richards said Sunday upon his return to Omaha.

Dr. Richards said a lot of work remains in Haiti.

“The suffering of the Haitian people is terrible,” he said.

The second UNMC deployment team consisted of eight nurses, two physicians, one pharmacist and one physician assistant. The team worked primarily in two Port-Au-Prince hospitals.

The UNMC Haitian Relief and Outreach Fund was created at the University of Nebraska Foundation to help offset travel and lodging costs, buy supplies such as materials for treating wounds to hopefully reduce amputations, and communication costs for this trip and future trips.

Give to the UNMC Haitian Relief Fund now

The foundation’s goal is to raise $100,000 to support UNMC’s efforts in Haiti. So far, the fund has received about $80,000 in donations.