According to this article, their hospital care had no real emergency services as we would expect here in the US. I was watching the news and everybody is outside as they are afraid to re-enter structures as they are still experiencing after shocks. I live here in California and unfortunately I know earthquakes and aftershocks and they have it so much worse in Haiti.
In another related article, Doctors without Borders is ready to set the inflatable hospitals and they have done this in several disaster areas. 
“Doctors Without Borders has been employing them for years, including an impressive inflatable nine-tent, 120-bed center in Pakistan following a 7.6 magnitude earthquake there in 2005. The hospital post-and-beam frames can be made from the same fabric in inflatable lifeboats. Nylon interior and exterior walls leave space for air to create an insulating effect. The Cleveland Plain Dealer created an infographic showing one kind of inflatable hospital.”
Even the Red Cross building collapsed so they were also improvising. Malaria is also a big concern here and with open sewers and lack of water, disease stands to be a huge problem as each day moves on.
Even before the 7.0 earthquake that is believed to have killed thousands of people and crushed countless buildings, the medical infrastructure in Haiti was already almost nonexistent.
While the primary focus of the next 72 hours is rescue and saving lives, officials say, aid workers are facing countless critical medical needs for the millions who have been affected by the widespread destruction.
What are the immediate medical concerns facing rescue workers?
Today we learned from Doctors Without Borders that there are no hospitals remaining in Port-au-Prince. All hospitals are either collapsed or abandoned, including the three run by the aid group.According to Doctors Without Borders, there are enormous lines of people outside of these closed facilities, many with severe injuries, including fractured bones and crushed skulls waiting for treatment. But there's no medical treatment happening because the area has absolutely no facilities. Even before, the hospitals that existed had almost nothing that we would consider an intensive care unit. And Haiti has no system of frontline responders to rescue and revive people in emergencies.
Further down the road, Haitians will also likely suffer from secondary infections. With hospitals and clinics destroyed, people seeking help for broken bones and other survivable injuries will not be able to get help and will develop complications.
Bazell: Earthquake worsens health nightmare - Haiti earthquake- msnbc.com
Inflatable hospitals??? Interesting concept. The situation in Haiti is desperate, and will only get worse over time. It is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, so it is up to wealthier countries to try to lend support. The United States will undoubtedly play a major role in the recovery effort, but I hope everyone remembers that the United States also has its own problems, like a high unemployment rate and Americans struggling to support their families.
ReplyDelete