Hundreds of earthquake survivors in Leogane, Haiti waited for aid all day in 105 degreee heat.

Extensive Medical Needs on the Ground
Brian Hoyer
01/21/10

Brian Hoyer blogs from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where he is part of AmeriCares Emergency Relief team.

Brian is a veteran disaster relief worker and has supported AmeriCares responses to Hurricane Katrina, civil conflict in Uganda and the 2008 China earthquake. Here is his latest post from the field.

Yesterday we traveled about 15 miles from Port-au-Prince to the town of Leogane where I’d estimate 80-90% of the buildings were destroyed.  In every flat space and soccer field, people are living with their families under bed sheets, bits of iron roofing or plastic.

The sun beat down on the already weary survivors with 105 degree heat. The air was heavy with death and dust. With so few search and rescue teams, many victims have not yet been removed from the rubble. The situation for the survivors remains dire.

In the town center, over 1,000 people waited for aid – the nature of which no one was sure. I spoke with a group of women who were weary from hunger, heat and exhaustion. They had been waiting in line all day.

There was no food, little water and nothing to sleep on or under, except for salvaged scraps. There is not one latrine in the area and only one water source - consisting of a leaking pipe. This is a recipe for a public health disaster. We are very concerned, especially about the latrine situation as many children could die from drinking contaminated water.

As we drove to the clinic, we picked up the sickest patients along the way. When our ragtag crew of aid workers, volunteers and patients arrived, we found the clinic consisted of a few tarps stretched between buildings of a quake-damaged nursing school.

The clinic is staffed by a small crew of American doctors seeing more than 60 patients every day. These cases were nearly all complicated. Now, one week after the earthquake, severe and minor wounds have become serious – even life-threatening for some. With lacerations, infections and broken bones, the doctors were busy treating patients using the supplies and medicines from AmeriCares emergency health module. 

The doctors were doing the best they could with what they had. We observed doctors resetting a woman's severely broken leg without anesthesia; other caregivers were doing everything in their power to comfort her. We delivered pain medicines, but more are desperately needed.

Other doctors treated a small boy whose head was cut and bleeding. Elsewhere in the clinic, a 4-month-old baby boy wailed as doctors cleaned and treated his serious wounds. He'd miraculously survived injuries from a cement block as big as he is crashing down on him. The building collapse killed his father.

The clinic urgently needs to perform an amputation but does not have the supplies. We heard news of doctors in the area who were forced to use a saw from the hardware store to perform amputations. Alcohol was used as a disinfectant and there was little or no anesthesia available. Fortunately, we will deliver more medicines and supplies. 

Our team knows aid is on the way, but there is no end in sight to the need for medical supplies and surgical equipment in Haiti. Please do whatever you can to help get more relief to Haiti as soon as possible.

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