(A99) Remote Access and Extrication, the Haiti Experience

Abstract

Introduction

The January 12 2010 7.0 magnitude earthquake's epicenter hit just 10 miles west of Port-au-Prince and its 2 million inhabitants at 4:53 pm. Estimates of dead 222,517 at the time of writing, with thousands missing and hundreds of thousands living in tent cities. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with approximately 80% of the population living under the poverty line. There is a lack of seismic risk perception and planning at the national level. As a result in many areas there are no, or poorly followed, road, highway or bridge building codes.

Need

Although assistance arrived to major ports and cities from all corners of the globe, access from rural and remote areas to centralized hospitals remained difficult. Our group, a mobile medical team able to negotiate difficult terrain by foot with vehicle support in close proximity, deployed to these remote areas. EMS systems were poor in rural areas prior to the earthquake and now are nonexistent, in areas where no access to phones or even addresses (tent cities) to respond to. We found many injured without access to transportation even a month after the earthquake. No family or friends had access to vehicles to transport them. Many knew help was available, but did not know where or how to access. They waited in situ for help not knowing if it was coming. Limb threatening injuries were left to get necrotic and infected, no doubt adding to the morbidity and mortality. Our groups identified patients requiring transport and arranged for drivers, many times using paid locals from cities.

Call for future action

Implementation of a disaster plan for International NGOs to provide organized EMS transport for remote victims without access. Coordination with local community leaders and OCHA to identify areas in need of this service.