Report from Dr. Ken Hover on GHESKIO

Dr. Ken Hover, Professor of Engineering at Cornell University, continues to evaluate safety of medical buildings at GHESKIO. Excerpts from an email from Dr. Hover's wife, Deb:

Ken called again this morning for a quick check-in before heading back to the city. It’s wonderful that he and David Michel [Weill Cornell resident physician travelling with Dr. Hover] can have a hot meal at the end of each hard day and even a shower, such luxuries after all they see during the day. He’s going back to the main downtown clinic again this morning, and then this afternoon he’s going back to the new research facility out by the airport and meeting with the building designer. He had thought on his first visit Thursday that this new building had been too damaged to be able to use, but seeing the blueprints or hearing about the design may help to determine if there’s any way to reinforce it instead of tearing it down. The main clinic downtown sounds overwhelming for the doctors and patients. It is next to a soccer field where about 5,000 people are camped out waiting to be seen by doctors or hoping for food. Several times a day a helicopter comes in with injured people, and the Army sends out a squad to push back the people to make a circle for the chopper to land. They carry in the stretchers, the helicopter takes off, and the people fill in the area again. Yesterday their driver took them on a short tour around some other parts of the city to show them the damage. They went past the Presidential Palace, Cathedral, and other government buildings so they could see for themselves and take quick pictures. In these areas, there are still bodies in the rubble, and the smell and desperate crowds are unbelievable. The Haitian people are hoping that all these visitors will take their stories back home and help spread the word about their needs.Ken is very inspired by Dr. Pape. He’s not only dealing with the critical immediate needs, but he’s also asking Ken for advice on what to tear down and how to build for the future. He is trying to handle the short- and long-term planning at the same time, such awful stress on top of what they’ve all been through. But perhaps envisioning the future is the only way to get through the present.