The distribution of food and medicine continues in five camps on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince
‘Yesterday we were able to operate successfully on a ten-year-old girl. But there is little hope for those with more severe injuries’. This is Dr. Klaus Runggaldier speaking, one of the three Malteser International medics who arrived last Sunday in the Haitian capital. The Order of Malta’s Relief Corps has joined international rescue teams after the earthquake which has caused a serious humanitarian situation in a country where 80% of the population was already fighting to survive on a dollar a day.
Since last Sunday, Malteser International’s three doctors have been working non stop in the ‘S. Francesco di Sales’ hospital in downtown Port-au-Prince. According to Dr. Runggaldier the situation is still very difficult, but every effort is being made to provide emergency medical aid. Thanks to the good contacts of Malteser International’s Haitian doctors, the emergency team now has a jeep and local communication means at its disposal.
Through its partner COTEDO in the Dominican Republic, Malteser International has started to distribute food and medicines in five camps and emergency clinics around Port-au-Prince. In this way thousands of survivors are receiving their first basic supplies. COTEDO will also be sending a team of 25 medical experts into the region.
In the meantime, the Order of Malta’s ‘Sacre Coeur’ hospital in the north of the country is operating at full capacity, with the most seriously injured being transported there by helicopter. Because of the lack of medical instruments, the Order of Malta’s doctors cannot only confirm the tragic situation recently described by international rescuers: surgeons are forced to amputate arms and legs even when they are only broken.
In its headquarters in Cologne, Malteser International is already planning to relieve some of the team members in Haiti. Surgeons and anaesthetists of Haitian origin, and probably also general medicine and gynaecology specialists, will be sent by the Order of Malta’s United States associations and should arrive in Port-au-Prince shortly.
