Medical team

A friend of mine Dr Ed finally arrived.  I have not seen him nor have I been able to contact him since the quake hit. 
I knew that he had a medical team out of Port, so I was pretty sure that he and his team were okay.  Still with all the destruction around, you still wonder and think about it until you can confirm.  I hear the same from many people who e-mail me and of course the distance makes it that much harder.

We are currently looking into hosting a medical team.  This is not our area of strength, but medical help is certainly needed here in Haiti at this time.  What great timing for Dr Ed to arrive.  You can imagine that there might be a few wrinkles to work out when the airport is closed and you cannot find fuel, food, medical supplies locally.

We visited a location today that has become a large camp of people who have been displaced from their homes by the quake.  It is estimated that there are between 10,000 and 20,000 in this area without water, food, & sanitation.  These shelters are cobbled together with some sheets and pieces of plastic.  Some are cooking in this area with the traditional charcoal and hot oil technique.  Combined these ingredients my lead to  serious burns - usually of children; infections and other sanatary issues.

 
 We also found a military base was being established at the higher end of this area.  The plan is for the base to provide security for the area and also assist in establishing water sources, sanitation etc. 

As we first heard about this area, we were questioning how we might provide the medical help needed without endangering ourselves.  As you may know already - it is not a wise idea to take insufficient resources into an area and start to address a need.  Once some people realize that their own personal needs will not be met, unrest and rioting often occurs.

We talked with the military staff present and were warmly received.  They were also painfully aware of the need and did not know how they would be able to approach

The purpose of visiting today was to assess the need the security of the location.  There is currently no capability in this camp to address medical needs - we were approached by several while we were there.

Dr Ed will begin a clinic tomorrow.  While not officially under military protection - the presence of the military and close approximation of the clinic to the base certainly addresses our security concerns.

Now how is that for getting off the ground super fast.

We are going to visit another area tomorrow to assess the need there as well.