shareall

That poor country just can't catch a break. Thanks for doing this Erik.

DanZilla

Wow, I love this forum!

siik_ap2

i donated as well, i figured my money can do some good where its a life or death matter, rather then spending it all on my s2000...

cthree

Updates via CNN:

Doctors Without Borders reported that flights carrying critical medical equipment were being diverted to the neighboring Dominican Republic. Oxfam warned that fuel shortages could be on the horizon. And a volunteer at a hospital in northern Haiti said he has large numbers of open beds, but no way to get patients there from Port-au-Prince.

"My surgeons are sitting around looking at each other, wondering why they came," Tim Traynor told CNN.

Benoit Leduc, head of operations in Haiti for Doctors Without Borders, said five of the group's supply planes have been diverted to the neighboring Dominican Republic rather than being allowed to land in Port-au-Prince. He told reporters Monday that coordination is "not existing, or not efficient at this stage."

"It's an issue," Leduc said. "I don't really know who is in charge."

Leduc said the diversion of flights to the Dominican Republic has set back plans to erect a portable field hospital by 48 hours -- a critical time when many of injured survivors of the earthquake are now suffering from life-threatening infections.
Meanwhile, in the northern town of Milot, medical volunteer Traynor said the Sacre Coeur Hospital has more than 200 beds and a nearby soccer field where helicopters can land but few patients. He said the U.S. Coast Guard has flown some injured people up from Port-au-Prince, "one or two or three or four people at a time."
"We are within 30 minutes by air. We could take 200 to 300 people. We can do amputations. We have a fully operational trauma center, and no patients," he said.

Carol Fipp, another volunteer at Sacre Coeur, said eight patients have made it to Milot from Port-au-Prince on their own, taking about seven hours to complete the 75-mile drive. The hospital had fewer than 30 patients Monday afternoon.

"Shout it from the mountaintops: We need helicopters," she said.

Read: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/...dex.html?hpt=T1

Katrina? Is that you?

energetic

I've read as well that they are planning to drop by air as a solution, a lot of medical and food supplies. At this stage 14,000 ready meals and 15,000 liters of water were dropped northeast of the capital.

From our side, Greece has made necessary arrangements and loaded an airplane with 25 tonnes of medical supplies, 75 rescuers and doctors. But unfortunately it is not possible to land in Haiti due to the reasons described above. It was scheduled to bring back also 400 European citizens from Haiti.

However, the situation is really bad in Haiti. People are fighting with each other for some water, injured people are being carried out by all means and even women have their newborns on the street with no help or nowhere to go. Things are rough down there, however it is glad to hear that all countries have joined forces to help those people.

cthree

One C-130 airdrop is a token gesture but lacks any real commitment. The situation is deteriorating largely because of extreme desperation. The more desperate people get for the more chaotic the situation will become.

Why can't planes land at Guantanamo, Havana, Jamaica or the DR and have supplies shuttled by CH-47 helicopter right to where they need to go? Why do I see footage of small private planes landing in Haiti while cargo planes carrying hundreds of tons of medical supplies and food aid are being diverted to elsewhere?

Nobody should be landing in Haiti with less than 100 tons of urgent supplies. Why are mobile hospitals being sent to DR and people picking up orphans for adoption getting priority? WTF is going on there? 8 days man, 8 days.

Clearly the Katrina debacle was more about placing blame than about improving response to disasters. Nothing has changed, not a thing.

When a journalist gets called to an aircraft carrier to perform a surgery 7 days on because there isn't another neurosurgeon anywhere to be found then the wheels have come off completely. FAIL!

I'm not saying the money isn't going to help Haiti, it is. This is going to take YEARS to put right. The takeaway is that there is no plan and no capability to respond to the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster and thousands will die between the disaster and the rebuilding because we obviously, with all the money and all the goodwill in the world, are completely incapable of providing direct and immediate disaster response.

I don't think it's anyone's fault, it just is what it is, but I think it's high time we look at this and take some concrete steps toward doing better. I don't think we are even close to acceptable. We, everyone, needs some sort of international emergency plan, a quick response program that will get highly trained, and well equipped personnel on the ground within hours to begin to make a difference, whether there is a functioning government or not. It's great that there is a hospital ship on the way and will be there 10 days after the fact but we need shipping containers already packed and ready to go and qualified and eager people on call, bags packed, and in the air within hours. and a clear plan of how to get them into theater whether their is a functioning airport nearby or not.

That's just my rant. Obviously we mean well but aren't prepared to act efficiently or quickly.

MsPerky

Thanks, Erik. Doctors Without Borders is one of three main charities I donate to. Great organization. I'm not too keen on the Red Cross these days because of mismanagement in the past (and perhaps present?). Anytime you are considering donating to a worthy cause, please check first at CharityNavigator.org.

I believe there was an issue with helicopters being able to land - few places due to destruction. And they did not want to drop supplies (although they are now) and contribute to the chaos. It is a very sad situation.

sam_spider

The Hope For Haiti Now telethon is on right now, hard to watch and not donate.

I just donated $500.

Onehots2k

It was a great telethon. I donated as well.

zzziippyyy

^ Ditto, They will need all the help they can get.