Help for Haiti: A Georgetown Doctor Answers a Call for Help
Georgetown’s Ranit Mishori Responds to Urgent Call for Help from TV Medical Journalist in Haiti
Washington, DC -- Journalists covering the devastating aftermath of the Jan. 12th earthquake in Haiti sometimes can't help becoming part of the story they’re reporting. That was the case on Sunday when ABC News senior health and medical editor Richard Besser came across a young Haitian in labor. Though a doctor, Besser recognized right away that he needed assistance, so he reached out to his medical colleagues in the U.S. via the ABC News Medical Unit.
Ranit Mishori, MD, a family medicine physician in the Georgetown University School of Medicine, is one of thousands of physicians in a media contacts database compiled by ABC, but on Sunday morning, she was one of only a few who happened to be online when the distress call arrived via email.
“Rich Besser has come upon a situation in the tent city in Haiti where he is needed to help deliver a baby,” wrote Roger Sergel, managing editor of medical news at ABC. “If you are on line right now please advise….”
Then minutes later, “Important update. Baby may be breech.” Also included in Sergel’s email was a shorthand message from Besser, “No phone. Email only old. And not reliable. Pls send what u can. Baby may be breached. No hospital. Out in open air.”
Haiti has a high rate of mortality to both mother and child during birth. In a good situation, the stakes are high, but coupled with the earthquake-related trauma, birthing can be deadly.
Mishori was away from her computer but with iPhone in hand, she responded immediately. Among other medically relevant questions, she asked, “Is she fully dialated? Complete breech?? Footling?”
Sergel, the managing editor, continued to communicate with Mishori and the others willing to help anyway they could. Soon, Besser and his crew learned of a hospital set up by Israeli first responders in a nearby Port-au-Prince soccer field and they made their way there.
After arriving, Besser wrote, “To all: We're with the Israeli's… Should deliver vaginally. Thanks to everyone!”
Besser’s story about his encounter aired that evening on ABC World News Tonight. The news was good. The young woman delivered a healthy baby girl, though she was premature. Doctors say the baby has some uphill battles but will be fine.
“This kind of communication is certainly not ideal, but it underscores one of the hundreds of barriers faced by first responders and in this case, journalists,” says Mishori.
Mishori, speaks from experience. Prior to becoming a doctor, she was a journalist called upon to cover wars and natural disasters.
She says she understood the panic Besser might have felt as she too has come across a seemingly desperate situation while reporting the news.
“Something similar happened to me in Bosnia in the 1990s,” Mishori says. “That particular experience directly led to my wanting to go to medical school.”
About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through Georgetown’s affiliation with MedStar Health). GUMC’s mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing and Health Studies, both nationally ranked, the world-renowned Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization (BGRO), home to 60 percent of the university’s sponsored research funding.
Story By:
Karen Mallet
km463@georgetown.edu