[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 35 (Thursday, March 11, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E353-E354]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        HONORING THE MEDICAL TEAM ORGANIZED BY DR. JESSE BUTLER

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                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 11, 2010

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to recognize a medical 
team from my district that recently traveled to the Dominican Republic 
to provide life-saving spinal surgery to victims of the Haiti 
earthquake.
  In the immediate aftermath of January's devastating earthquake, Dr. 
Jesse Butler, an orthopedic spinal surgeon from Advocate Lutheran 
General Hospital in Park Ridge, found a way to contribute his unique 
skills. In just a few short days, Dr. Butler was able to organize a 
medical team, collect medical equipment worth millions of dollars, and 
travel to the Dominican Republic.
  Members of the team included anesthesiologist Dr. Howard Konowitz, 
from Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park; scrub nurse Teresa 
Dudic, from Gottlieb; registered nurse Maria Korbel, from the Illinois 
Bone & Joint Institute in Morton Grove; nurse Aimee Duque-Randolph; and 
physician's assistant Alicia Granger-Carlson.
  Dr. Butler's team operated on 11 patients, ages 14 to 35, at Dario 
Contreras Hospital in Santo Domingo, where many earthquake victims were 
treated. Conditions were far from ideal: patients waited in crowded 
hallways, and surgeries were performed in rooms as hot as 85 degrees. 
Victims withstood the pain of their injuries without the aid of 
morphine.
  Upon their return, members of the team recalled the fear and 
desperation of those they treated, but also the Haitians' will to live 
and persevere. And though they could only meet a fraction of Haiti's 
enormous medical needs, they said they hope that their work will 
inspire others to similarly volunteer their time and talents.
  I would like to submit for my colleagues' interest the following 
article from the February 10th edition of the Chicago Tribune about the 
team's trip.

 Life-Saving Trip for Earthquake Victims `Life-Changing' for Surgical 
       Team--Spinal Surgery Unit Inspired by Resolve of Haitians

                          (By Courtney Flynn)

       When orthopedic spine surgeon Dr. Jesse Butler saw images 
     of the lives shattered by the Haiti earthquake, he knew he 
     had to help the only way he knew how: by fixing broken backs.
       Within 48 hours of the Jan. 12 quake, the physician from 
     Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge organized a 
     spinal surgery team, called in favors to collect millions of 
     dollars of medical equipment and boarded a plane to the 
     Dominican Republic.
       ``Instead of going the traditional route through a relief 
     agency, we thought it would be more successful if we took 
     charge of the logistics ourselves,'' Butler said. ``We put 
     together a team that could pretty much handle anything thrown 
     at them.''

[[Page E354]]

       In one week, the team operated on 11 patients, from 14 to 
     35, including a 25-year-old pregnant woman whose injuries had 
     left her a quadriplegic. Nine of the patients were Haitian 
     earthquake victims; two were injured in a motorcycle crash.
       Despite the severity of the patients' injuries and the 
     tragedy they'd been through, members of the surgical team 
     said they were struck by the Haitians' resolve to live and 
     wait for help.
       ``When you looked into their eyes, you saw a terror and 
     fear that just burns into your soul,'' said Dr. Howard 
     Konowitz, an anesthesiologist from Gottlieb Memorial Hospital 
     in Melrose Park who was on the trip. ``There was no morphine 
     . . . but no one was moaning, no one was screaming.''
       The team performed its work at Dario Contreras Hospital, a 
     public hospital in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo 
     where many Haitians have sought medical attention since the 
     earthquake. Team members chose the hospital consulting with 
     the Ministry of Health on where their skills would be of most 
     help.
       The team worked in grueling conditions, operating in rooms 
     where the heat reached 85 degrees. Some patients waited in 
     crowded hallways, others on thin mattresses atop rusted metal 
     frames.
       ``We were working long hours. The rooms were so hot, people 
     were dehydrated,'' said Teresa Dudic, a bilingual scrub nurse 
     from Gottlieb. ``And the patients, you could see the 
     desperation in their eyes, they were scared.''
       Konowitz described the trip as ``life-changing.''
       ``All the other catastrophes that I can remember in my 
     lifetime, there was nothing medically like this that I can 
     remember,'' he said. ``It's haunting what we saw.''
       And although it was gratifying to provide what help they 
     could, team members recognized it was a tiny fraction of the 
     need.
       ``We may have fixed their spine during the week, but we 
     only got to 11 (people),'' Butler said. ``There were another 
     20 we couldn't take care of.''
       And the people they did treat need long-term care.
       Maria Korbel, another member of the team who's bilingual 
     and a registered nurse at the Illinois Bone & Joint Institute 
     in Morton Grove, said she hopes their work will inspire 
     others.
       ``If we were able to start a chain reaction, I think that 
     would be fabulous,'' Korbel said. ``I hope we started 
     something good, something positive, something that will keep 
     going.''
       Physician's assistant Alicia Granger-Carlson and nurse 
     Aimee Duque-Randolph also were members of the team.

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