CNN Wake Up - Haiti Needs Docs!.. Field report..

The update below is a reply to the Corbett list - a listserve of people who have been focused on Haiti issues for many years. That list has forwarded a lot of urgent requests and communications from people in Haiti and 'first responders.'

I saw a request for urgent medical care for a Pastor and parish in P au P on Sat. I was with a colleague who's a nurse and we decided to try to help. Below is our reply/update to the listserve but it illustrates the need for medical care that is ongoing. I know CNN keeps saying Haiti doesn't need doctors, and I'm not sure who they're talking too, but it's certainly not the Haitian people, or the people we saw on Sat or those we'll see tomorrow, and those we're HOPING the Intl Red Cross can reach tomorrow. Bottom line is: the need has shifted in Haiti. Not urgent operations and triage, but many people with now two-week old bad injuries who have yet to see a doctor. They're in the poor areas, not near downtown.

Today we went out to visit Jacmel, 1.5 hours from the capital. Every few kilometers, a sign with urgent pleas... for food, especially, but also care. Health care, counseling, medicine - it's all needed. So CNN's Sanjay Gupta needs to talk to some new people to get the real info, away from the US military hospital reps and way up in the hills -- the rest of Haiti that has yet to get real attention. The suffering is great and still very urgent. Haiti needs docs. -- AC


Dear Corbetters,

Just wanted to let you know that my colleaugue Susie (a nurse) and I were able
to respond to the list request yesterday for urgent care from a Pastor. I
got the message at around 2 pm, and contacted Pasteur Estinvil (sp?) a bit
later. We found the Zanmi Lasante (PIH) tent just pulling out of their
temporary camp at 5 and they promised to look for meds for a next day clinic
but meantime, we found Bill Pape at Gheskio and he did the same. By am., we
had enough of a stock to start a rough set up in a corner of Cite Les Cayes
- which is close to the airport - a popular crowded section. As the pastor
had said, the people in his area hadn't had any medical attention or food
aid since the earthquake and some were in bad shape. We set up a child's
school desk in the middle of a child's school room that hadn't completely
fallen, in the middle of otherwise rubble, which was next to his small
church area -- an inner covered courtyard. He has about 450 people there.

The first baby Susie saw had had a bloc fall on its head and had quite a
bruise, and appeared supine and hadn't eaten etc, while her mother had
extreme stomach pains where her Caesarean section had been and she'd been
bleeding since she fell in the earthquake. The first two candidates for a
hospital transfer...

We had three others transferred by day's end for what
appeared to be broken bones under very swollen limbs (ribs, knees, wrists).
I thought people were in good shape, considering how little they've had and
living outdoors under sheets-for-tents amid rubble. The babies were mostly
suffering from diarrhea, minor fevers, and colds/coughs that had developed,
probably from the outdoor exposure for some. We had the right medicine and
managed. We didn't have insulin for the diabetic case, but have found that
for tomorrow, and best of all, were able to get the serious cases seen at
the Israeli hospital with appts for Monday for the xrays and additional
screening they need.

The pastor's wife is a nurse too, and she has started discussion groups for
the trauma that is a clear major problem... people simply so so so so
grieving.

This pastor has three other parishes with just as many people in need, so
tonight I spoke to Intl Red Cross and asked to see if we can get some health
posts set up in those places, and I am confident it will happen by Monday.

So that's one little field update...,

--stay tuned.