INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS IN HAITI
- Our emergency medical team is working at the De’l Universite d’etat d’Haiti Rue Monseigneur Guilloux Pau P, Haiti, a 700 bed hospital that is barely functioning. Hundreds of patients are waiting for medical care. Yesterday, only four Haitian doctors were working at the hospital – everyone else is caring for their own families, missing or dead.
- We delivered desperately needed medical supplies to the hospital yesterday. More supplies are expect today, including emergency medical kits and food.
- We are also working out of our hotel — Villa Creole — which has been turned into a make-shift clinic. See pictures under the MEDIA tab on the left.
- The team is treating crush victims, trauma, basic wound care, shock and other critical cases with the few available supplies. A lot of patients with broken bones, fractures and ruptures.
- We are currently treating teenage sisters today. They arrived at the hospital without their parents – we expect they are missing. Both have serious injuries and we are worried one may lose her foot. They are just two of the many people who need our help.
- We have 16 more physicians and nurses arriving today.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
On January 12, a 7.0 earthquake struck 10 miles south of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
International Medical Corps’ Emergency Response Team is in Port-au-Prince assisting survivors of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti Tuesday. The team is providing medical care outside the general hospital near the Presidential Palace where hundreds of people have congregated for help.
- Estimated 2.5 to 3 million people are expected be affected.
- Earthquake triggered mudslides, collapsed buildings, and knocked out power and communications lines.
- Injuries and loss of life are predicted to be substantial.
- People reportedly trapped under rubble and much of Port-au-Prince is destroyed.
Other members of the Emergency Response Team are conducting a rapid needs assessment and visiting hospitals around the city to explore their condition.
In addition to emergency medical care, survivors of the earthquake are likely to be in immediate need of food and water, as well as non-food items like blankets, tents, stoves, and water purification equipment. Public health is a major concern as well. International Medical Corps will also focus on providing emergency shelter and other essential items in its relief effort.
The response draws on 25 years of experience in emergency settings, including last September’s earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia, and the massive 2005 earthquake in Pakistan.
