My brother Bill put this in a blog comment and it's worth making sure everyone has the option to see this.
First, the kid that interviews him is great, really good questions and very articulate. But what is really important is hearing Harry Smith describe what he went through over there and how he is dealing with this after his trip over there. For someone that has seen so much, it is amazing how much this trip impacted him. Post Traumatic Stress is going to be a problem I think for not only the victims, but those that went over to help. Worthy viewing.
Showing posts with label devastation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label devastation. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday call from Chris, frustration is setting in....
Sunday call with Chris, looks like Wednesday is the target day for coming back still, so three more days. Frustration is setting in I can tell, they have no supplies and it feels to her like they are not doing anything, almost lieing to the patients.
They have drugs like Tums, Ibuprofen, Aspirin, some ointments, but not a lot of what they really need. They are being told to treat the well because the sick will likely not survive. Everyone seems to have lice, scabies, intestinal worms, or a combination of the three, all are very sick. The next waves of disaster will include thousands dieing from disease, malnutrition, dehydration, etc. Then after that, hurricane season, this will not be pretty.
She says the streets are full of makeshift tents (bed sheets) because all the buildings are collapsed, the street is the only place to set things up. They are doing what they can to stay positive and do everything they can to make people well, but they have little they can do. Hopefully this improves with future teams (more teams and hopefully supplies coming in this next week).
And during all of this, there are births occurring. I saw pictures from Alden of a baby being delivered just the other day, what a world to be born into.
There was an earthquake yesterday that they all felt, at this point though most everyone is outside and most buildings are already collapsed.
Chris is trying to get on a surgical team, she has been talking with an orthopedic surgeon and may be going to help them. She is hoping that she can get somewhere where she can actually provide some meaningful care as right now she is not feeling that way.
Apparently the French Military & Fire Personnel arrived as well, and it's a welcome site to many of the women over there! They are all fresh and still clean I guess, but apparently very handsome too!
They have drugs like Tums, Ibuprofen, Aspirin, some ointments, but not a lot of what they really need. They are being told to treat the well because the sick will likely not survive. Everyone seems to have lice, scabies, intestinal worms, or a combination of the three, all are very sick. The next waves of disaster will include thousands dieing from disease, malnutrition, dehydration, etc. Then after that, hurricane season, this will not be pretty.
She says the streets are full of makeshift tents (bed sheets) because all the buildings are collapsed, the street is the only place to set things up. They are doing what they can to stay positive and do everything they can to make people well, but they have little they can do. Hopefully this improves with future teams (more teams and hopefully supplies coming in this next week).
And during all of this, there are births occurring. I saw pictures from Alden of a baby being delivered just the other day, what a world to be born into.
There was an earthquake yesterday that they all felt, at this point though most everyone is outside and most buildings are already collapsed.
Chris is trying to get on a surgical team, she has been talking with an orthopedic surgeon and may be going to help them. She is hoping that she can get somewhere where she can actually provide some meaningful care as right now she is not feeling that way.
Apparently the French Military & Fire Personnel arrived as well, and it's a welcome site to many of the women over there! They are all fresh and still clean I guess, but apparently very handsome too!
Alden Ho Photos
I've included some Alden Ho photos in the Flickr photo slide show I posted yesterday. There are some new ones today, I will add them to the slide show but I thought I would include some here as well so you can see them directly. All photos © Alden J. Ho Photography, aldenho.com and used with permission. You can find Alden on Facebook too and see all of his pictures, warning though, there are some graphic pictures of amputations there as well.
This is Michelle and Chris Gonzales getting prepped to head out for the day
Here are two of the three clinic teams in the back of a panel van getting ready to head out for the day
Clinics setup seeing patients, this is Tricia and a translator working with a patient. They saw over 300 patients per team in about 5 hours time.
Clinic setup, lines of people waiting to be seen
I think this is Nitti working with a boy. Lots of scabies and lice.
Here's my Chris with a patient
This is Michelle and Chris Gonzales getting prepped to head out for the day
Here are two of the three clinic teams in the back of a panel van getting ready to head out for the day
Clinics setup seeing patients, this is Tricia and a translator working with a patient. They saw over 300 patients per team in about 5 hours time.
Clinic setup, lines of people waiting to be seen
I think this is Nitti working with a boy. Lots of scabies and lice.
Here's my Chris with a patient
Saturday, January 30, 2010
BBC Map of Earthquake
On the BBC website (click here to see the page) they had a pretty good map of the earthquake and the damage to a few of the towns based on percentage of destruction, seemed worthy of including. Chris and the team are near Carrefour.
As usual, click on the picture to see it larger, or you can use the web link above to see the article on the BBC website.
As usual, click on the picture to see it larger, or you can use the web link above to see the article on the BBC website.
Photos from Michelle Cabasaan
Michelle posted more photos on Facebook today, I'm re-posting them here for everyone else to see. She mentioned that she is trying to minimize Internet usage from her phone because she learned how expensive it is, but she will post more. She volunteered for the Search and Recovery mission today with Union College. They have located 3 victims so far just by moving a little rubble.
You can click on the photos for a larger version.
Looks like they're getting ready to head out for the day. Chris on the left, with ChrisP next to him. Tricia is in the front and I apologize I forgot the name of the others. If someone can post in the comments their names I won't forget in the other photos, I met them quickly!
This is Michelle with Polly. They are trying to recover her family members. Michelle says that Polly will probably be on HBO and / or Oprah.
This was a six story apartment building
You can click on the photos for a larger version.
Looks like they're getting ready to head out for the day. Chris on the left, with ChrisP next to him. Tricia is in the front and I apologize I forgot the name of the others. If someone can post in the comments their names I won't forget in the other photos, I met them quickly!
This was a six story apartment building
Friday, January 29, 2010
Today's call from Chris, some questions answered....
I just got off the phone with Chris, she sounded very excited and had a lot to say in a short period of time. In a Blog post last night I asked people to post comments if they have any questions and I received some from Caroline and have some answers to those plus more.
Today was their first day of seeing patients. The hospital they are at (Adventist) is known as Base Camp and that is where they head out from each day to treat patients. There are several teams of medical personnel working out of there and they organize in the morning into teams, get supplies and then head out to treat patients. Base Camp received power and running water today, so that is good news.
The headed out around 11:15 and came back after 4 PM. They want them all back by 5 PM, it is not safe for them all to be out after that time.
Chris said that everyone there is basically homeless at this point, everything is destroyed. It is as if she was dropped into the middle of a bombed out war zone. Yet she said everyone is very nice and friendly. She said she was walking with supplies and a little boy just came up and held her hand, smiled at her and walked with her to where she was going. She was very touched by that.
She said the team she was on today treated about 300 people. Infections, cuts, amputations, whatever comes they deal with it. Everyone is working like they are doctors, we didn't talk for a long time but it sounds like whatever someone is comfortable doing they just do. She seemed terrifically happy to be able to do what she did today, she said it felt like a calling.
She did mention that when they were organizing this morning they were looking for a nurse volunteer to go out with a search and rescue team because the other day someone was still pulled out alive. Victoria volunteered to do that and apparently it was grueling and sad. They were digging through rubble and all they recovered were 3 victims and it was hard to deal with.
They are providing them with one meal in the evening, she said she was very hungry after a long day of constant patient traffic. The rest of the day they are on their own for food, and of course she has 200 bars so she should be fine! I also sent her with a water chlorination and filtration kit so if they are not providing bottled water for them during the day she can make her own and keep it in a bottle for herself.
She did sleep very well last night after the long journey so she was well rested for the day. The base camp is secure and she feels relatively safe in the environment where they are. I reminded her to be vigilant on the mosquito protection, even though she is in a tent, hopefully she is.
Sounds like around 3:30 - 4:00 PM PST is when I'll hear from her through out the duration of her working in the clinics. If she's able to charge more frequently now that the base camp has power, we may talk more.
She said people are taking lots of pictures, so upon their return we'll try to get them up here or send links to them to share. As I come across them (like Michelle's from her cell phone) I will post them.
I'm going to try to give Michelle direct access to post photos to the blog as Chris from her phone, we'll see if that works.
And if there are more questions, please leave them in the comments and I'll do what I can to get answers.
Today was their first day of seeing patients. The hospital they are at (Adventist) is known as Base Camp and that is where they head out from each day to treat patients. There are several teams of medical personnel working out of there and they organize in the morning into teams, get supplies and then head out to treat patients. Base Camp received power and running water today, so that is good news.
The headed out around 11:15 and came back after 4 PM. They want them all back by 5 PM, it is not safe for them all to be out after that time.
Chris said that everyone there is basically homeless at this point, everything is destroyed. It is as if she was dropped into the middle of a bombed out war zone. Yet she said everyone is very nice and friendly. She said she was walking with supplies and a little boy just came up and held her hand, smiled at her and walked with her to where she was going. She was very touched by that.
She said the team she was on today treated about 300 people. Infections, cuts, amputations, whatever comes they deal with it. Everyone is working like they are doctors, we didn't talk for a long time but it sounds like whatever someone is comfortable doing they just do. She seemed terrifically happy to be able to do what she did today, she said it felt like a calling.
She did mention that when they were organizing this morning they were looking for a nurse volunteer to go out with a search and rescue team because the other day someone was still pulled out alive. Victoria volunteered to do that and apparently it was grueling and sad. They were digging through rubble and all they recovered were 3 victims and it was hard to deal with.
They are providing them with one meal in the evening, she said she was very hungry after a long day of constant patient traffic. The rest of the day they are on their own for food, and of course she has 200 bars so she should be fine! I also sent her with a water chlorination and filtration kit so if they are not providing bottled water for them during the day she can make her own and keep it in a bottle for herself.
She did sleep very well last night after the long journey so she was well rested for the day. The base camp is secure and she feels relatively safe in the environment where they are. I reminded her to be vigilant on the mosquito protection, even though she is in a tent, hopefully she is.
Sounds like around 3:30 - 4:00 PM PST is when I'll hear from her through out the duration of her working in the clinics. If she's able to charge more frequently now that the base camp has power, we may talk more.
She said people are taking lots of pictures, so upon their return we'll try to get them up here or send links to them to share. As I come across them (like Michelle's from her cell phone) I will post them.
I'm going to try to give Michelle direct access to post photos to the blog as Chris from her phone, we'll see if that works.
And if there are more questions, please leave them in the comments and I'll do what I can to get answers.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
One word: Devastation
Spoke with Chris just now and she says what you see in the media does not do justice for the amount of devastation there is in Haiti. Unfortunately the satellite phone quality is not great, we got dropped a couple times and she has heard from others that it is bad for everyone. But I did get a little information out of her.
She is not completely sure where she is, she said it is at an Adventist Hospital, I'll try to find out from base camp exactly where that is and post information. She said it took a long time to get there and everything is just destroyed all around, even where she is now. She has not seen a patient yet, sounds like that will take place starting tomorrow. Her understanding is that they will be starting at the hospital then venturing out to deal with folks outside of the hospital.
There is no sense of law and order, no police or law enforcement to be seen and it's a little scary from that respect as well as the sheer amount of devastation. She is upset that she did not bring some sort of video camera or better camera setup (our smaller point and shoot is broken, should have just bought a cheap one for her to take with her), all she has is a couple disposable cameras and she is already finished with one of them. Others on the team do have cameras though so I will try to get some stuff from them as well to post when they get back.
I probably will not hear from her until sometime tomorrow, but the news at this point is that they have arrived at the area where they will be working and will begin to try and help tomorrow.
She is not completely sure where she is, she said it is at an Adventist Hospital, I'll try to find out from base camp exactly where that is and post information. She said it took a long time to get there and everything is just destroyed all around, even where she is now. She has not seen a patient yet, sounds like that will take place starting tomorrow. Her understanding is that they will be starting at the hospital then venturing out to deal with folks outside of the hospital.
There is no sense of law and order, no police or law enforcement to be seen and it's a little scary from that respect as well as the sheer amount of devastation. She is upset that she did not bring some sort of video camera or better camera setup (our smaller point and shoot is broken, should have just bought a cheap one for her to take with her), all she has is a couple disposable cameras and she is already finished with one of them. Others on the team do have cameras though so I will try to get some stuff from them as well to post when they get back.
I probably will not hear from her until sometime tomorrow, but the news at this point is that they have arrived at the area where they will be working and will begin to try and help tomorrow.
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