Leeds surgeon treats injured in Haiti

Consultant Waseem Saeed, 46, an expert in plastic reconstructive surgery, flew to the island last week with medical response charity Merlin.

More than 200,000 people are believed to have died and more than 250,000 injured in the earthquake, which struck the island on January 12.

Mr Saeed, a lecturer at the University of Leeds Medical School and a surgeon at the private Nuffield Hospital in Leeds, is working from a makeshift base on tennis courts in Delmas 33, one of the most badly affected areas.

He said: "This is different to other earthquakes I have worked in because we managed to find some kind of infrastructure, so sterilisation, lighting and even trollies and beds we have taken for granted. Here we have set up a theatre from scratch.

"We have borrowed an operating table, we have brought our own generator, we have borrowed lights and borrowed some trollies."
Patients on Mr Saeed's operating list include children with untreated, exposed wounds.

He added: "I have three children to operate on. One is an 11-month old baby. She has an open wound, down to the tendon and bone and we have got to clean and get it closed otherwise she will relapse with a similar problem.

"I have a couple of children with scalp wounds that haven't healed and are getting infected. The list goes on. There is plenty of work here."
Priority

Father-of-four Mr Saeed is part of a team including another surgeon, an anaesthetist, A&E consultants and nurses.

A spokeswoman for Merlin said the survival team's first priority was to treat the injured and wounded.

She said: "Surgeons are performing skin grafts on injured patients, preventing their limbs from becoming infected."

Mr Saeed, who specialises in reconstruction for limb paralysis, microsurgery and children's hand surgery, is no stranger to a disaster zone.

He worked in Indonesia following the earthquake in South East Asia and has also worked in China and Pakistan treating earthquake victims.

Mike Flatley, general manager of the Nuffield Hospital in Leeds, said the hospital had donated theatre equipment for the surgeon's visit.

He said: "Waseem is a very generous individual. He believes that part of his role is to help people less fortunate than himself. Part of his motivation is giving something back."