"Haiti was more than the New World's second oldest republic, more even than the first black republic of the modern world. Haiti was the first free nation of free men to arise within, in resistance to, the emerging constellation of Western European empire."

(Lowenthal 1976: 656-657)

 

BSVAC BLOG – 3/20/10

It was the day after the earthquake hit Haiti. I was at the Bed-Stuy Volunteer Ambulance Corps office in Brooklyn. We were watching the news. The Commander told me to get in touch with as many people as I could. He said, “Call, text, e-mail, do whatever you have to do to get a group together to go to Haiti.”

There was very little time to get prepared. We didn’t know where we would be staying, or exactly how we would be getting around. But the Commander had been contacted by a Scientology group that was chartering a plane and wanted to give some seats to us.

Forty-four BSVAC volunteers boarded the first flight to Haiti. It was Saturday January 16th. Just 4 days after the disaster. The flight left New York. It was supposed to be a direct flight, but while in the air, our landing was cancelled and we were sent to Miami. We left Miami for Port-au-Prince the next day, January 17th.

There were US Military forces operating the airport in Haiti. When we left the airport we didn’t see many US or Haitian military forces. We didn’t see many police either. For the most part, it seemed that the people were taking care of themselves and each other.

We were able to reach the Minister of Health of Haiti, Mr. Alix Lassegne. We wanted to know where the greatest need for help was.  He sent us to the General Hospital, in Port-au-Prince, which serves millions of Haitians, with instructions to do what we could to get it running again.

The General Hospital was being operated outdoors in a large makeshift compound. There were thousands of patients waiting to be treated. Amputations were being done with non-surgical objects --  hacksaws and razor blades. There was no anesthesia. The people with the most severe injuries were getting Tylenol. The patients were all in tents, or just out in the open.

The Hospital itself had been locked after it was evacuated. As a result, patients were getting treated in unsanitary conditions outside while the Hospital sat unused.

We broke the lock on the door to the Hospital.

It was a mess inside, but the structure itself was OK. Our team of 44 got to work cleaning and organizing.

We started a Triage. Then we setup the ER.  We had doctors and nurses in our team and they jumped right into patient care while the rest of us re-opened other critical areas in the Hospital.

After the ER was running, we worked to clean and re-open the OR and the post-Op areas. We re-opened Labor and Delivery, just in time for the first of many births that day. The BSVAC team worked nonstop. I was very proud of everybody on the trip.

Commander Robinson put me in charge in Haiti. He gave me a “field promotion,” to Chief. So when the first group left after a week I stayed behind to welcome the second team of BSVAC members.

Chief Colin Raeburn

Bed-Stuy Volunteer Ambulance Corps