Haiti Aid - Direct!

Clevelandmo · Jan 15, 2010

I dont mean to harass all of you about this issue, but I figured some of you might want to help. Below is an email from my friends who run a free hospital in Haiti. (and by the way they are avid US soccer fans and traveled to Columbus with us to see the US 2-0 defeat of Mexico last Feb.) If you give to their hospital through the link below it will go directly there with no middle man. At first they were not asking for help and were urging us to donate to the Red Cross and Medwish, but now they are asking for help so I know they must really need it. Their staff are working themselves to the bone. The man, Ian Rawson, quoted below as working for two days straight without rest is in his 70's.

Many of you have asked to be kept updated on the travesty in Haiti and
Hopital Albert Schweitzer. Those who are there don't have phone
service and have little time to communicate but here is what I have
learned:

It is clear that things are getting increasingly overwhelming at the
hospital as the volume of patients is growing everyday. Now that more
people are being freed from the rubble and more roads are cleared, they
are transporting them as fast as they can to what few medical
facilities still remain. Since Hopital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) is only
40 miles from Port au Prince and one of the few surgery and trauma
centers remaining, it is the destination for many of the seriously
injured. HAS has mobilized all of their supply sources and is doing
everything it can to keep up with medical and surgical needs of the
patients. Ian Rawson, Medical Director, tells me that without our
support they would be without hope and he is very grateful for all that
everyone is doing to help.

Here is Ian Rawson's posted update from Hopital Albert Schweitzer from
last night:

Throughout the day more vehicles arrive, more people seeking care.
Two school buses filled with patients just came to the door. We sent to
St. Marc to buy a dozen more beds and mattresses in the market.
We are all exhausted - I haven't left the hospital for two days except
to take a shower and change. And I have been lucky -others have just
stayed through, like Toussaint.
All for now.

Here is an article quoting one of the hospital's physicians:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10013/1028004-100.stm

Here again is the hospital's website: www.HASHaiti.org
Remember that your gifts will go directly to the hospital without
middle men.
Click to expand...

pettyfog · Jan 15, 2010

- bump -

Clevelandmo · Jan 15, 2010

Thanks for the bump,.

Here is an update.

http://kdka.com/health/Albert.Schweitze ... 427492.htm

It is so heartbreaking, but the relief workers are an inspiration;

The hospital's two operating rooms have been in service nearly non-stop for 36 hours. It is one of the few places to perform surgery near the disaster area.

Doctors Without Borders is trying to get a surgical team there to help relieve the Schweitzer staff.

Many at Schweitzer have suffered personal heartaches.

"One of our doctors found out at 10 o'clock this morning that his sister had died in their house and he went to the library and sat down and then he went back in the OR," Rawson said. "I'm very proud to be part of this place."

You can hear both the exhaustion in Ian Rawson's voice and his abiding respect for the grace and dignity of the Haitian people he so clearly cares for.
Click to expand...

pettyfog · Jan 18, 2010

bump to remind..

Everyone should already know this.. but..

Quick and easy Red Cross donating:

Text the word Haiti to 90999

adds ten dollars to your phone bill

Clevelandmo · Jan 18, 2010

Another heartbreaking and frustrating update from my friend's father in Haiti. I hope a few of you will take the time to read the whole thing.

At the end is a description of a website (www.glyde.com) where you can donate used CDs, DVD's, books to raise money. This hospital is going to have new and unprecedented demands for quite a while due to the impact the quake has had on Haiti's already meager health system.

www.HASHaiti.org

Although the media is beginning decrease coverage, it is clear that the
challenges in Haiti are as desperate as ever. Ian Rawson says that
they can't keep up with the need for antibiotics and anaesthesia. We
are working diligently on getting an airdrop to the hospital, but it is
clear that there cannot be enough support sent to comfortably manage
the situation. Patients with otherwise manageable wounds are now
becoming critical due to infections. More people continue to manage to
exodus Port au Prince and populate the surrounding areas where there is
more food and water. However, these areas do not have any real excess
and so more areas are becoming dramatically affected. Here are Ian's
blogs from the last two days:

Sunday, Jan 17:
Overnight, several patients have died, of a combination of their
injuries and sepsis; we have run out of antibiotics We have never had
enough pain medicine, and the usually stoic patients are now succumbing
to days of unrelieved pain.

There is a gap between the images of the national news media of
incoming flights and media moments with senior visiting dignitaries,
and our reality here. Our surgical and nursing team is overwhelmed by
the need.

Their days of non-stop work will not end today or tomorrow. At the same
time, teams of qualified surgeons and other specialists are at airports
in Miami and the Dominican republic, trying to get here to help. For
many, it will be too late. We must find a way to speed up arrivals for
these key people to come in.

We still do not have cell phone connections inside Haiti, and the few
international cellular systems are overloaded, so we can speak by phone
to the US only at night. The Internet has been a great help - our new
satellite connection was installed the day before the earthquake, and
we have good contact through that system. But it doesn't do much good,
if all we can talk about is how it is impossible to get here.

This afternoon, a small group of surgoens might arrive overland through
the Dominican Republic, which will be a great help, but we are also
hoping for several specialists in orthopedics and neurosurgery who are
waiting to get here, will be able to arrive soon.

This is only the second phase of a 3-phase disaster; after next week it
will be clear that the quake has destroyed the capital's health
infrastructure, and the emergency tent hospitals will not be a
long-term solution. HAS will need to be able to make substantial
changes in order to assist in the design and management of a
decentralized hospital system for the future.

Ian Rawson

Monday, Jan 18:
The flow of urgent cases from Port au Prince continues as before except
that they are more serious cases. It has been possible to treat and
release many of the patients, so slowly the ones who remain are taken
off the floor and put on cots, and then to beds.

A surgical team from Miami arrived yesterday evening on a military
flight, started to work immediately, and had done a dozen cases by
midnight. There is still a long row of surgical candidates in the
hallway by the operating suite. The team has provided a welcome relief
to the Haitian surgeons, and they are prepared to continue their work
through today. They had been stalled in Miami for two days due to the
confusion surrounding flights into the Port Au Prince airport.

We are learning every day about disaster medicine; we are a microcosm
of what is happening throughout the country, especially in Port au
Prince. The clinical demand is astounding; thousands of injured people
are seeking care in Port au Prince, and for many it is a race against
infection and systemic damages. A large investment has been made by the
military and civilian agencies, but currently there is a major mismatch
between resources and needs. Stocks of medical supplies in Port au
Prince are available but due to communication failures we have not been
able to get delivery of urgently needed antibiotics and pain medicine.
We have a secure landing zone (our soccer field), and helicopters fly
over all day, but we can't seem to find the proper contact and get
deliveries started.

We had, and still have, a desperate need for clinical personnel; the
surgical team which arrived yesterday has helped a great deal. Our OR
nurses have worked as hard as the physicians, and are also in need of a
break. More surgeons represent more demand for their services. The
Surgery post-operative ward has spilled out into other spaces, but with
only a few additional nurses, who are stretched thin.

I hope this comes across not as complaints, but as a description of
what life is like on the ground here at Hôpital Albert Schweitzer,
where the vast majority of our services have been provided by an
exclusively local Haitian staff, and are only now getting support from
international specialists.

Many of our patients have been in our hallways now for days, patiently
waiting for help. We have become good friends and I appreciate their
forbearance when I explain why they have not yet had their much-needed
surgeries. Their pain is becoming more intense, and they must be
frustrated, but they always respond with a smile and an assurance that
they are doing all right, when it is obvious that they are not.

Your collective concern and support has helped to sustain us all in the
face of an incomprehensible demand. I, and all of us here ion
Deschapelles, send our sincere thanks.
Ian Rawson

Your support continues to be great help and many of you have made a
dramatic difference by getting the word out to others. www.HASHaiti.org

A good friend who has started the company Glyde (www.glyde.com) has
created a way for further donations to be made. The company is an
online market for used media such as books, cds and dvds. If you have
any of these items that you are happy to part with, you can list them
on the "sell" page and by clicking on the donate link, you can donate
all or a part of your proceeds towards the hospital by choosing "GRANT
FOUNDATION" as the charity. [The Grant Foundation is Hopital Albert
Schweitzer's not-for-profit organization created in the USA and named
after Gwen Mellon's maiden name.] To purchase the items which will
then allocate proceeds to the hospital; click on "Charity" at the
bottom of the Glyde home screen; go to GRANT FOUNDATION and there will
be listed all of the items which will have proceeds go to the hospital.
Thanks so much.
Best,
Charlie
Click to expand...

pettyfog · Jan 20, 2010

-bump-
Donations still needed.
Remember: Even if you dont like the Red Cross because of their past shenanigans, they are still pretty cost effective

andypalmer · Jan 21, 2010

If you don't like the Red Cross, here's another option. We Mormons plan for these types of events all the time, so we're gotten pretty efficient.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng ... e-in-haiti

pettyfog · Jan 21, 2010

-bump- and as a treat:
Buried 65 hours - iphone app saves his life!

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Haiti Aid - Direct!

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