I have only just begun to absorb the magnitude of the problem in Haiti on the ground, but I just want to thank everyone who did so much to support our efforts there and to respond so quickly to my requests for donations.
The medical “camp” where I worked was sponsored by Noah-New York and set up in an abandoned children’s park in the Tabarre area, about ten miles from downtown Port-au-Prince. I was one of four senior doctors ( with two surgeons and an OBGgyn) in this makeshift “camp” set up in an abandoned play park where there are tents for the doctors to sleep in at one end and the rest of the park are areas for intake, triage, non-emergent pediatrics, non emergent adults, Surgery and critical care. Surgery takes place on an old air hockey table and trauma takes place on an old restaurant table. And everyone in recovery lies on old mattresses on the floor. We ran out of sheets and blankets. The “inpatients” slept in tents, sometimes three to a single tent.
Despite generous shipments of donated medical supplies from the USA to this group of approx 10 medical professionals staffing the site round the clock,( rotating teams coming in for ten day commitments) many of the supplies had not been transported from the airport when we arrived. Fortunately, a Haitian volunteer helped us to get the supplies slowly but consistently to the camp hospital. In fact one of the largest single logistical problems was NOT a shortage of medical volunteers willing to help, but instead the distribution of supplies and transportation. The transport issues are not just about getting the supplies off the tarmac and into the sites, but also the transport of critically ill patients- the roads are jammed with traffic, there is little fuel, and ambulances sit dormant at the larger agencies.
I have never ever had to practice medicine with so little – transporting pregnant women in the back of old pick-up trucks, making diapers out of packing material, crutches from broken pieces of furniture- not to mention amputations without anesthesia. Despite the dedication of the staff and a very well organized Haitian ground crew, we were overwhelmed by the needs- and shortage of medicine and equipment.
The people have really no access to water so efforts at feeding the hungry babies and oral rehydration with Pedialyte packs felt very futile for many of the children. The mothers are trying to breastfeed their babies, but the mothers themselves have no food or water so their bodies have stopped producing breast milk and both mother and child are starving.
The many “tent cities” that have been set up, are essentially pieces of plastic draped one to the other with literally thousands of people living in the space of two city blocks. Violence, rape and disease is rampant, and the children are left unattended and starving to wander the streets. They fill the rubble-strewn city digging in the garbage along side the pigs and goats, filthy, hungry and all alone.
The number of orphans is staggering and those children with previously existing medical conditions such as cerebral palsy are being abandoned on the side of the road by parents who can’t care for them.
None of these issues come as a surprise- as with all such disasters, now that the first phase of injury is over, infection has become rampant requiring amputations for infected crush injuries.
The next phase, which we are already beginning to see is cholera and other infectious diarrhea that causes profound dehydration and spreads rapidly.
What is hardest to describe is the affect of these people- so hopeless- Haitians had so little to begin with, decades of living in such squalor that now there seems no way out from under the disaster and the poverty and the hunger. It is indeed a crisis with no obvious solution, and I can’t imagine how the country will ever recover- but thankfully there are many organizations across the globe that are rallying to try to support. I just worry the most about the children – a generation who has lost their childhood, with very little to hope for in the near future.
Thank you all for supporting my being there and my ongoing efforts to continue to help them.
Best
Natalie
Mobile Pediatric.org
I know how often you are asked to give of your resources, both time and money. I ask that you consider that giving to children in need is an investment in the future of our world. We welcome volunteers- we welcome anyone who can help with the plight of the millions of children who are right now losing their chance at childhood because of poverty, illness and despair. Thank you for anything you can do.
Dr Natalie Geary is a board certified pediatrician with training in developing countries and the needs of children, both ongoing and especially in crisis. Trained in medical anthropology, psychology and pediatric medicine she has devoted much of her time to the needs of impoverished children both in the USA and abroad. As a member and advisor of many relief organizations, she established mobilepediatric.org as a non-profit “clearing house” for donations for children, insuring that the generosity of others gets delivered into the correct hands. She personally oversees the delivery of goods, services and financial donations in order to bypass the often inevitable mishandling and chaos that accompanies many relief efforts. The goal is to provide relief and ultimately sustainable support for children in need.
To contact Dr Natalie Geary please email at DrGeary@mobilepediatric.org. We hope you will get involved in any way you can. Even a box of diapers is a welcome donation for many families across the globe.
