RELIEF EFFORTS, WHAT WENT WRONG?

The Earthquake of January 12, 2010 lasted 35 seconds. However, this interminable moment of sheer terror will be forever etched in the memory of our brothers and sisters living in the areas affected by this catastrophe. For those not directly impacted by it, the images of devastation are likely to continue to reemerge in their worst nightmares. Personally, I have both watched these painful images on my television screen and I have had firsthand experience with the atrocity of this event. I mean not only the sight of the destruction of our best known buildings and monuments, but mainly the panic in the eyes of these victims running in all directions, not knowing where to reach for assistance. I mean all these grief stricken individuals desperately attempting to dig for the loved ones whom just a few seconds before they were talking to or to whom they had just said good bye. I mean the despair of a population left to itself with no first aid station, no ambulance service, no law officers, no government representatives in sight, resulting in a chaotic situation. Certainly, I do want to acknowledge the physicians and nurses who tirelessly worked in their own clinics, hospitals or even their own residences to stitch gaping wounds or splint broken limbs. These medical professionals were heroes, since they continued to work, even though they had lost their homes or even their own family members. I mean the government officials taking on the tasks of surveying the devastated localities on board perhaps a MINUSTAH helicopter, since our army has been dismantled and we do not have our own helicopters.

In the midst of this mayhem, arrived the international relief organizations. Who were they? Were they qualified to care for the victims? What supplies did they bring? What was needed most? Where should they go? Who was supposed to assign them to any given location? Result: further chaos.

A family practitioner may be good-hearted and good-willed, but if he is not trained in orthopedics, a comminuted fracture with multiple bone fragments or a compound fracture with the bone piercing the skin may seem to be an indication for an amputation, while a trained orthopedist would see the opportunity to use his or her skills to save a limb. Each delegation of the larger American universities or medical centers felt that they should be in the leading role. Otherwise, they cut their visit short. Same for the mission from different countries which refused to work with the local physicians or with other foreign delegations. A Haitian-Canadian anesthesiologist reported that he saw a sign at one of the still standing hospitals that read: "Aqui se habla solamente espanol" and he had a photograph to prove it! So quid of the Creole and French-speaking Haitians?

The International airport of Port-au-Prince was closed to commercial traffic for more than four weeks to allow the delivery of relief medications and medical equipments. All international agencies provided blankets, water bottles, MREs (meals ready to eat) that were welcome. However, one can wonder if at times these groups just wanted to spend the donated funds quickly in any way possible, perhaps to facilitate a quick profit for a fellow sales rep or a medical supplies dealer.

Laparoscopic instruments rained and filled the storage rooms at the General Hospital, also known as the HUEH, while we could not have blood transfusions for nine days. No morphine was available to soothe the pain of the amputees, young or old; we had to administer injectable acetaminophen (Tylenol).

Often I questioned the motives of the international players. Did they come to Haiti for propaganda? Did they really come to help the poor Haitians? Why would the Israeli mission leave after only one week, while we were still in the middle of the crisis? Why would the members of the Swiss Red Cross refused to collaborate with the Haitian physicians?

In summary, the rescue efforts represented a definite improvement over what the situation could have been without the international help, but they were still a far cry from the best possible outcome. Whom do we blame?