Blog entries

Will Your Doctor Survive?

Dan Diamond, MD — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 21:51:29 +0100

64% of the primary healthcare providers that we surveyed in Los Angeles last month said that their practice has become so chaotic that they were afraid that they might miss something important or an important test. Combine that with the fact that 49% of doctored surveyed in 2008 said that they were either going to see fewer patients or stop all together within 3 years!!! It was such a wonderful privilege to bring a message of hope to those providers in LA last month. As a nation we need to look ...

Fear Can Steal Your Resiliency and Rob Your Significance

Dan Diamond, MD — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 23:27:40 +0100

Seth Godin recently posted a 45 minute master class session on his blog that is well worth the 45 minute investment! He discusses the barriers that keep us from taking risks and being successful. He is primarily talking about "business" but many of the concepts that he presents apply equally as well to overcoming the difficulties that you are facing in your personal life. If you want to leave a legacy despite the challenges that you are facing, grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair and listen...

A Slow Re-Entry from Haiti

Dan Diamond, MD — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 03:12:43 +0100

I've never really had to deal with this before. To be honest, I've had a difficult time bouncing back from Haiti. Usually when I come back from a deployment I just bounce back. This time I have been in a bit of a funk. I'm really not sure why. Perhaps it was the amount of gruesome physical trauma that I saw. In any case, sorry that I've not been writing more. I do feel like I'm getting back now and I plan to increase my writing and I'm still planning to do a web/telephone meeting in the very ...

Absolutely Amazing! The Haitian Story You Need to See

Dan Diamond, MD — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:09:03 +0100

Melanie Thomas put this show together. She has some tremendous photos that I just saw for the first time today. Mel was a wonderful member of the Medical Teams International team that was on the ground in the early response to the earthquake. She spent a bunch of time at King's Hospital sorting out the supplies and organizing the supplies that came in. She is one of the type of people that doesn't scramble to get in the limelight. She just gets busy doing the tasks at hand. Wow, did she work...

Yes, I'm Still Having Dreams at Night About Haiti

Dan Diamond, MD — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:01:35 +0100

Haiti continues to occupy a tremendous amount of my energy, both consciously and subconsciously. In fact, I think that most everyone that was on our early team is still processing this disaster. I'm still having some dreams and wrestling with what I saw. I'm processing it on a couple of different levels. First of all I'm still very concerned about the long term health issues in Haiti. They have a long, long way to go. I am confident, however, that progress is being made. I'm encouraged ...

Haiti: Meet Some of the Volunteers

Dan Diamond, MD — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0100

I just came across this broadcast from AM Northwest featuring two of our team members, Journalist David Michael Smith and Physical Therapist Kathi McCoy:

Haiti: No Longer Numb

Dan Diamond, MD — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:43:49 +0100

Now the tears are starting to flow in Haiti.

Photo: Lynsey Addario for The New York Times

When I was there originally the entire country appeared to be numb. They had to be; they were in survival mode. Now, according to a fantastic article by the New York Times entitled "Haiti Emerges From Its Shock, and Tears Roll", the emotions are finall...

Haiti: Photos from the Front Lines

Dan Diamond, MD — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:53:14 +0100

These are some of the photos of my experience on the front lines of Haiti during the first couple of weeks after the earthquake. (Warning: some of these are graphic.)

Haiti: Would You Like to Know Why I Went?

Dan Diamond, MD — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0100

Now that I've been back for a couple of days I thought I would share my heart with you. Perhaps you would like to know why I went.

It has occurred to me since my return from Haiti just over a week ago that there are two ways to look at major disasters. One can look at it from the perspective of Google Earth (the satellite view) or from the perspective of Facebook (relat...

Haiti: If you want to help, here's how.

Dan Diamond, MD — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:08:59 +0100

Since I've returned, a lot of folks have asked me how they can help. If you text the word "HOPE" to 25383 it will send $10 to the folks at Medical Teams International (you can do it more than once if you like). If you would like to donate a larger amount, please visit their site at www.medicalteams.org. Thank you to all of you that have supported the work in Haiti. My biggest fear is that we will move on and forget. There is such a tremendous need. I'm still havin...

Hypnotizing Haitian Chickens

Dan Diamond, MD — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:57:18 +0100

During my senior year at Washington State University I did research on chickens at the Veterinary school. You know, it was just one of those things. In the process of it, I learned how to hypnotize (mesmerize) chickens. It really is something that everyone should know how to do. After all, you never know when...

Haiti Update: Great News! You are going to love this!

Dan Diamond, MD — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:49:35 +0100

(Photo: Pastor Devariste's wife in route to Miami aboard a donated Learjet about 2 weeks ago.)

I was able to speak to Pastor Devariste in Miami and he told me that his wife is doing well. Not only is she going to live but it looks like she is going to be able to keep her vary own foot as well. Please keep her in your prayers. She is having surgery this Wednesday.

Not only that but...

Phede...

Jan 26 Haiti: Change Comes Suddenly

Dan Diamond, MD — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:41:11 +0100

For nearly the past two weeks I've been working as hard as I know how to get King's Hospital up and running with two functioning ORs that could simultaneously do surgery on three patients. We met that goal about 48 hours after we started it. After reaching that goal, we then began to focus our attention on the tent cities and other places where we might extend our wor...

January 25th Haiti: Real Life Teamwork Saving Lives

Dan Diamond, MD — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:51:54 +0100

We are still seeing a lot of wounded people that have not yet been evaluated by anyone. Unbelievable!

Today was an interesting one. Once again, for me it was a day of networking and coordination. We received word today that the anesthesia machine that we had been anxiously waiting for was finally in Haiti. No...

Jan 23 Haiti: The 5 Keys to Leadership During Disasters (and how to flush without running water)

Dan Diamond, MD — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 04:20:48 +0100

As the medical director for this team I know full well that our effectiveness is dependant on several things.

1) I need to be sure that our team is safe.
2) I need to sure that we have the resources tha...

Great News On the Frontlines in Haiti! Hope For My Girl!!

Dan Diamond, MD — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0100

(The above video was originally streamed live from my iPhone!)

I'm overwhelmed by the amount of injuries and the severity of the injuries! Everywhere that I look there are buildings that have been destroyed! Even banks! BANKS!? Good grief! Taking pictures of the destroyed buildings seems pointless after a while. They all just look like pictures of...

From Haiti: My New Girlfriend is Worth Fighting For!

Dan Diamond, MD — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:50:37 +0100

Today was a blur. The one thing that I do remember for sure is that I fell in love. No doubt. How can you not fall in love with a 12 year old 7th grader with huge brown eyes, a cute little sundress and a smile that could stop time itself? When "The Thing" happened she was so frightened that she ran out into the street and...

Video Update from Haiti

Dan Diamond, MD — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 09:33:24 +0100

Aftershock! - Jan 20th

Dan Diamond, MD — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:12:37 +0100

Jay Leno said calling it an aftershock is like calling the second twin an "after-birth". He is right. No matter how you look at it, we had an earthquake early this morning that was a 6.1. It was scary! But there is more to the story. You see, at home I usually sleep naked (TMI?) but here I have been wearing shorts. Well, last night I was just too dang hot so I decided to sleep in my bun-huggers. When you were a kid did you ever have the same recurrent nightmare that I did—the one ...

7 Seconds

Dan Diamond, MD — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:58:29 +0100

Bill and I were up very early to take the pastor and his wife to the airport. It was very emotional putting her in a exclusive Leer Jet. Her husband was overwhelmed with joy. His smile went all the way around his head. Then to top it all, the pilot asked him if he wanted to go as well!!! He was blown away. He hugged me like I just saved his life. Hmmm. I can still see his smile. It's only a 90 min flight in a Leer Jet. It was a happy ending to an amazing story. She was picked up at the airpor...