A Courageous Trip by First Responders to Puerto Rico Following Hurricane Maria in September 2017

Works in Progress Seminar:

“A Courageous Trip by First Responders to Puerto Rico Following Hurricane Maria in September 2017”

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

8:00 pm

Presenter: Dr. Edward Colt

We were 3 doctors and 6 nurses. What we found was chaos – roads destroyed, electricity gone, clean water unavailable, medical care unavailable, education unavailable.  No one was helping the local population.  We were not to drink water from the tap.  There were broken water mains, broken sewers, diarrhea, parasitic infections.  The rule was drink only bottled water.  Clean your teeth only with bottled water.  Spray with DEET to kill the mosquitos and other insects.

We divided  into 2 teams – one for San Juan and one for Arecibo, towns on the North coast of Puerto Rico.  Each day we worked to exhaustion.  Lost count of the number of patients.  Diabetes, hypertension, depression, anxiety.  Our morale and esprit de corps was high.  We realized that our efforts were inadequate and that a huge amount of work needed to be done.  Most of us came back to Puerto Rico several times.

We learned how poverty affected medical insurance in Puerto Rico and how Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy and political relationship with the U.S. government made the island vulnerable to natural disasters.

No CME or CE credits offered. 

Edward Colt, MB, BS, FACP graduated from University College Hospital Medical School, London, in 1962. He was Assistant Professor at Columbia University and is a Senior Attending Physician at St. Luke’s Hospital. A researcher in genetics and endocrinology, he has authored over 20 publications and peer-reviewed articles.