Heartbreaking news: 11-year old Haitian girl rescued yesterday died

[Neurotica]

This story was reported by Ivan Watson of CNN throughout the day yesterday. Things were looking grim, but she was finally rescued after being pinned by an iron bar beneath the rubble.

Watson just reported that her family was going to try to take her to some medical facility three hours away, but he recently got word that they didn't even make it out of the nearby first aid station.

So so sad. I'm asking for extra hugs from my kids right now.

[lamp_shade]

1. I just heard that. My heart is breaking.

[roguevalley]

19. the children and the elderly are killing me. at least this baby wasn't alone

God save Haiti.

[gateley]

2. I saw today's report, didn't see yesterday's. I don't know how much more

I can watch. It makes me so sad and feel so helpless.

Your kids will love the extra hugs. :)

[Parker CA]

3. Oh man. Just horrible.

[malaise]

4. Two days with a pinned leg - no food, no water

and loss of blood. That's a recipe for septicemia with the concomitant organ failure.

She never had a chance - too sad. :cry:

add

[Barack_America]

6. She would have had a chance had medical personal been with the rescuers

She likely bled out, rather than died of infection. The rubble was likely restricting blood flow to her mangled leg. There's a reason why professionals are trained in how to carefully and safely extract people from rubble. But she probably would have died waiting for that help to arrive too.

Very sad.

[TheMadMonk]

16. Actually the more likely cause was a sudden rush of toxins from oxygen starved tissue.

This is the real reason such care it taken when rescuing people pinned in a wreck or beneath rubble.

It is also the reason why torniquets were virtually outlawed.

Unfortunately I truly believe this more or less outright ban has resulted in tossing the baby out with the bathwater. If you have a pinned victim (particularly in a disaster scenario as big as this one) it's time to return to the old M*A*S*H addage. "Par is a live patient."

If a victim is pinned by an extremity, rescuers start with the presumption that the pinned limb is already lost and tie it off with a torniquet. Get them out as fast as possible and then and only then assess whether or not the limb can be saved.

Yes it is possible that for some, a leg or arm might be unnecessarily lost, but I'd much prefer to be cursed by a live amputee than apologise to the family of an intact corpse.

[BootinUp]

5. This is very upsetting. I was really pulling for her

I wonder if the tragedy was just too much for her little soul to bear.

[Jennicut]

7. This just tears me apart. I was so hoping she would be okay.

[SoCalDem]

8. Crush injuries are often fatal.. and combined with shock & dehydration

it's a bad combination:( Poor little girl:cry:

[MadMaddie]

9. Don't forget that 80% of the population lived below the poverty

line so many were not in the best of health, weakened immune systems underlying catastrophic injuries not a good outcome. They are reporting that some that have been saved that are getting to the medical sites are dying from minor injuries.

[Neurotica]

10. According to the reporters, there are not even enough needles to do sutures

at some (if not many) of the first aid stations that have sprung up.

If we feel this helpless, I can't even imagine how the first responders must feel...not enough supplies, not enough time.

[MadMaddie]

11. It's just so sad

[Thothmes]

12. Yes it is, unfortunately, thousands of others

have or will suffer the same fate. We will sent thousands of our countrymen to help , and billions in money and supples, but it will come to late for many Haitians. A true tragedy if there was ever one

[TheMadMonk]

17. This may depend on how much focus there is on doing things the "right" way.

In a pinch ANY needle and thread will do for external suturing. And in a pinch, if you have absolutely nothing else (ie boiling water or alcohol) urine will suffice for sterilisation.

Over the years I've watched footage coming out of disaster areas and all too often I find myself screaming at the screen, because some officious prick gets in the way and insists on things being done in the approved, procedural fashion.

Historically the most effective disaster rescues have been those where people just pitch in and get things done and the biggest ballsups have been those where so called "disaster coordinators" have arrived with their manuals and checklists and taken over: to ensure "equitable distribution of resources"; and to minimise risk to the rescuers.

[stray cat]

13. Damn; her last words supposedly were ma, ma don't let me die.

heartbreaking - and only one of the many victims

[Quantess]

14. Thanks for the update.

[Kadie]

15. .

:cry:

[Silver Gaia]

18. Oh no... I am so very, very sad to hear this.

I was hoping and praying for the best for her. So horrible. Bless her.

[Raine]

20. Aw gee

I hadn't heard this, I thought she was going to make it. :cry: