<p>This is part of an email I received; I am glad that we have “adopted” this organization. They have multiple operational medical facilities a couple of hours outside Port-au-Prince, and they are establishing field clinics in PaP. Their greatest need is money.</p>
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<p>We have already begun to implement a two-part strategy to address the immediate need for emergency medical care in Port-au-Prince. First, we are organizing the logistics to get the medical staff and supplies needed for setting up field hospital sites in Port-au-Prince where we can triage patients, provide emergency care, and send those who need surgery or more complex treatment to our functioning hospitals and surgical facilities. To do this, we are creating a supply chain through the Dominican Republic. Second, we are ensuring that our facilities in the Central Plateau are ready to serve the flow of patients from Port-au-Prince. Operating and procedure rooms are staffed, supplied, and equipped for surgeries and we have converted a church in Cange into a large triage area. Already our sites in Cange and Hinche are reporting a steady flow of people coming with medical needs from the capital city. In the days that come we will need to make sure our pharmacies and supplies stay stocked and our staff continue to be able to respond.</p>
<p>Currently, our greatest need is financial support. Haiti is facing a crisis worse than it has seen in years, and it is a country that has faced years of crisis, both natural disaster and otherwise. The country is in need of millions of dollars right now to meet the needs of the communities hardest hit by the earthquake. Our facilities are strategically placed just two hours outside of Port-au-Prince and will inevitably absorb the flow of patients out of the city. In addition, we need cash on-hand to quickly procure emergency medical supplies, basic living necessities, as well as transportation and logistics support for the tens of thousands of people that will be seeking care at mobile field hospitals in the capital city. Any and all support that will help us respond to the immediate needs and continue our mission of strengthening the public health system in Haiti is greatly appreciated. Help us stand up for Haiti now.</p>
<p>I want to encourage everyone to keep on linking their favorite charity in their emails and networking sites. You never know when someone might be tempted to click and help.
[Partners</a> In Health (PIH), Health Care for the Poor](<a href=“http://www.pih.org/home.html]Partners”>http://www.pih.org/home.html)</p>
<p>This is so difficult to watch. My husband and I have traveled to Central America and the Caribbean several times, and being a structural engineer, I’m always watching buildings under construction whenever we visit. I’m always struck by the relative inadequacy of design and construction in poorer countries. In grad school, I was a research assistant for the Mid-America Earthquake Center and my research was in retrofit prioritization… There are so many places, in this country, in other countries, all over the world, where there are seismic zones that haven’t seen activity since before civilization really took root. There’s only so much funding out there to take care of these problems that aren’t perceived as a “real threat”… and only engineers and seismologists see what the danger really is.</p>
<p>I am trained in something called “Consequence-Based Engineering,” which means weighing the risk that society perceives against the level of potential disaster, factoring in cost-benefit analyses to determine whether mitigation action should be taken. Society usually chooses to take the risk. And so we sit and we wait, knowing what will happen. It happened with New Orleans. It happened with Haiti. It happens all the time.</p>
<p>Looking through the pictures at work today, I had to cover my eyes. I’m trained to look at destroyed buildings. It looks like a pile of rubble to everyone else, but I can see five pancaked slabs in there, and know that they don’t build infill shear walls in Haiti… Probably a hundred dead in this photo, a hundred dead in that one.</p>
<p>I’ve tried to volunteer for the Red Cross but they don’t know what to do with a structural engineer. I have to wait until I get my PE certification and then hope that a spot opens up on an Urban Search & Rescue Task Force, and then hope that my employer supports my volunteerism.</p>
<p>So much need, and all I can do is give my ten dollars to someone else to help pick up the pieces. Wish they would let me give them some of the help they need.</p>
<p>It must be so much more painful to watch this with your background and knowledge, aibarr. About the Red Cross, I wasn’t going to say anything earlier, but I crossed them off my donation list some time ago. My niece tried to volunteer with them after Katrina, and they didn’t know what to do with her. She had substantial disaster relief experience in a third world county. She was appalled at the incompetence she encountered there. </p>
<p>It is so frustrating to watch this, and not be able to do anything other than send money. The poignant photos and videos - don’t you wish you could reach in and pick up that child, that elderly woman, that man staggering down the street with a bloody face? Some of those people could be cared for perfectly well in my kitchen - all they need is food, water, shelter, and basic first aid. Yet they face so many dangers in the days ahead - infection, disease, perhaps violence if chaos ensues. Even those who were not injured seriously in the earthquake itself are in danger now.</p>
<p>aibarr, bless you for working to get to the place where you can help. When you find a place where they will take your talent, let us all know where to send money.</p>
<p>I donated. Having lead discussions of Mountains beyond Mountains at my two book groups, I have been well aware of PIH. But it was good to look at the website again and see their current concerns. </p>
<p>airbarr, you will find a place to do your good work. The need is incredible, as you well know. Thanks for your perspective. </p>
<p>There is a Wisconsin girl still missing with the Lynn University group. One of my Ds. is leaving on a Caribbean exchange soon. Just a little too close to home.</p>
<p>I’m struck by that, too… I just want to take a warm washcloth and wipe the dirt off their faces; tell them that this may be overwhelming, but that they will someday rebuild.</p>
<p>I just emailed D a poster I quickly threw together asking for donations to the two organizations that accept them via text message (the Red Cross–text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10, and Wyclef Jean’s charity–text “YELE” to 501501 to donate $5). Also included a list of other organizations. I asked that she post it all over her dorm and give copies to friends in other dorms. I think the texting method will appeal to college kids–it certainly requires minimal effort (the donation is charged to one’s phone bill). I hope many can be persuaded to pass up a couple of lattes and donate.</p>
<p>Add me to the list of contributors. One of my former colleagues is from Haiti and has family in Port-au-Prince. Have had him and his loved ones in my thoughts all day.</p>
<p>aibarr you continue to amaze me. Just became a fan of Partners in Health Facebook [Partners</a> In Health | Facebook](<a href=“Partners In Health”>Partners In Health)</p>
<p>NYMom2 thanks for copying Ophelia Dahl’s letter. (FYI she is one of founders of Partners in Health and Roald Dahl’s daughter)</p>
<p>Posted 730 PM on PIH-- From PIH website: “Update: January 13, 2010, 7:30pm Wanted: Surgeons, nurses, and other medical personnel to help in Haiti… If you are a health professional interested in volunteering, please send an email to <a href="mailto:volunteer@pih.org”>volunteer@pih.org</a> with information on your credentials, language capabilities (Haitian Creole or French desi…red), availability, and contact information."</p>
<p>According to [Lynn</a> University](<a href=“http://www.lynn.edu/alert]Lynn”>Lynn University) 4 more Lynn U students have been located. That means only 1 student and the 2 chaperones remain missing.</p>