History In Haiti

One of SIGN’s great strengths is its worldwide reach, thanks to its 150-plus programs in more than 40 countries. This often means that when a natural disaster strikes in the developing world, SIGN already has trained personnel on the ground ready to treat the injured.

This was the case in Haiti. SIGN’s connection to the country dates back to 2006 when Medicins Sans Frontieres (or Doctors Without Borders, as it is known in the United States) contacted SIGN to get a SIGN instrument set and a supply of intramedullary nails for their 50-bed clinic in Port-au-Prince. Dr. Zirkle was then asked to make a trip to Haiti to evaluate the sterility of the operating rooms in Haiti and the capability of hospital personnel to ensure the proper conditions were in place for using internal fixation.

During his first trip to Haiti in December 2006, Dr. Zirkle taught hospital staff the SIGN system and left them with a set of SIGN instruments. A few months later, accompanied by Dr. David Templeman, who is currently the president of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association, Dr. Zirkle visited State University Hospital where he helped establish another SIGN program.

Dr. Serge Sabalat, one of the Haitian surgeons who worked with Dr. Zirkle to set up a SIGN program back in 2006, contacted us within days of the January 12 earthquake to directly report on the catastrophic conditions in Port-au-Prince. We were relieved to hear from him and he was grateful to hear we were already planning a full-scale disaster relief response.