Responder: Too many Haiti earthquake victims in need of medical care

By The Klaxon Staff / inquiries@theklaxon.com / 02.04.2010

Updated on: 02.08.10 at 3:44 pm

Staff photo/The Klaxon

[Editor's note: George Contreras is a first responder in New York City. He's also a contributor to The Klaxon. Below is a text sent from his BlackBerry while responding to medical crises in Haiti. It has been edited to fix shorthand for publication.]

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Death and agony is everywhere. People are desperate. However, they are not as violent as portrayed in the media. They were quick to embrace us once they know we are here to help them. On one day, we saw 500 patients in just six hours. Even with our limited resources, we had a pod with a doctor, several nurses and a physician assistant and medics staffing the pod.

Again, such events remind us how lucky we are to live where we live and that we have what we have.

I had the pleasure of treating a 110-year-old woman who was brought to me and was dehydrated since she was homeless after the earthquake. She lost her entire family. After I gave her IV fluids and took care of her, she smiled and gave me a blessing.

It was a special moment since just a few hours ago, this woman was carried to me. Surely, she and many others would have died without our mobile medical clinic.

We traveled to Cite Soleil—one of the worst slums in the western hemisphere—and treated hundreds who had never received medical attention. Poorly healing wounds and makeshift amputations reminded me of how simple things can go wrong. In some cases, we had to re-amputate in order to save their lives.

There is so much to do here for months to come—even to get back to a pre-quake status. It is hard to leave and not think about the people we leave behind.

Staff photo/The Klaxon

Staff photo/The Klaxon