Florida Hospital Doctors Return from Puerto Rico, Share Riveting Experiences

The physicians traveled via Black Hawk helicopters to treat patients in remote areas, worked at hospitals on the brink of shutting down, and performed surgeries in challenging conditions.

The team provided immediate medical help, including assisting local doctors to perform open heart surgery.

Due to power outages, Florida Hospital doctors had to improvise and used sunlight to read patient X-rays.

After visiting the area, the physicians worked to ensure the delivery of clean water and other critical needs to families in need.

They found a diabetic elderly woman covered in insects, disoriented on the floor of her home. Another day, they helped local doctors perform heart surgery. And on another, they were forced to read an X-ray outdoors, using the light of the sun.

The Florida Hospital emergency physicians were the first to receive provisional licenses to practice medicine in Puerto Rico — their license numbers 001, 002, 003, 004, and 005, respectively. After returning to Orlando, Florida, on Sunday evening, the doctors gathered to share their experiences for the first time.

The team began their relief efforts nearly two weeks ago. While their initial goal was to assess the island’s health care needs, they began providing medical and humanitarian aid immediately.

“We could not have accomplished all we did were it not for divine intervention,” said Julian Trivino, M.D., who works at Florida Hospital Orlando.

As they landed in a military helicopter in a rural area one day, an orphanage operator pleaded for help. There was no drinkable water for the children. The doctors, in many situations, worked with multiple agencies to provide relief.

“With the help of the U.S. Army, we were able to deliver drinkable water to the kids in the orphanage within the hour,” said Katia Lugo, M.D., a Puerto Rico native who works at Florida Hospital Orlando.

When the Florida Hospital team, working with Puerto Rico’s Health Department, learned a hospital was on the brink of shutting down, they facilitated the delivery of water and other critical supplies, allowing the hospital to remain open.

Despite the challenging conditions — roads were closed, communication nearly nonexistent, emergency department temperatures were in the high 90s — the physicians touched countless lives.

But, the impact may have been greatest on the doctors.

“It changed my life,” said Alfredo Tirado, M.D., also a Puerto Rico native who works at Florida Hospital Orlando. “You get into medicine because you want to help people — and being able to get there and see the needs down there, I was very heartbroken.”

Adventist Health System | January 2018