Before and After

( pictures )

Canadian Earthquake Rescue Teams grounded in Canada

As the hunt for survivors continues amid the rubble of Port-au-Prince, five fully equipped search-and-rescue teams specially trained to rescue people from collapsed buildings in the aftermath of an earthquake remain grounded in Canada.

The country's Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR) teams – in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax and Manitoba – are all waiting patiently for the call to help in Haiti.

But so far no call has come.

"We have a membership that lives and breathes this type of scenario. We are itching to go," Coby Duerr, the leader of Calgary's unit, told the Calgary Herald.

"It is what we do."

— "Earthquake rescue teams remain grounded in Canada", The Toronto Star

My colleague in Vancouver says that CBC Radio One is reporting that these teams have been explicitly told to stand down.

I'm hearing that one of the concerns being raised is that if we sent our search and rescue teams to Haiti, they might not be at 100% operating capacity for the Olympics.

Letting the soldiers in before the medicine...

The World Food Program finally was able to land flights of food, medicine and water on Saturday, after failing on Thursday and Friday, an official with the agency said. Those flights had been diverted so that the United States could land troops and equipment, and lift Americans and other foreigners to safety.

"There are 200 flights going in and out every day, which is an incredible amount for a country like Haiti," said Jarry Emmanuel, the air logistics officer for the agency’s Haiti effort. "But most of those flights are for the United States military.

He added: "Their priorities are to secure the country. Ours are to feed. We have got to get those priorities in sync."

— "Officials Strain to Distribute Aid to Haiti as Violence Rises", New York Times

Latest Reports

I was just on a conference call this afternoon with members of the Canada Haiti Action Committee. There were good and bad reports.

The first, most annoying item relates to the increasingly frustrating situation at the Haitian airport. The airport has essentially been taken over by the U.S. military, and they're giving priority to arriving military and departing foreigners. MSF, who suffered damage to their three local facilities, have had two shipments of medical equipment (including inflatable hospital facilities) turned back from the airport. Even when supplies are arriving, the U.S. won't let the materials be distributed without marine guards.

On the plus side, some of the positive stories involve Haitian organizations and organizations staffed with Haitians. Zanmi Lasante -- the Haitian organization run by Partners in Health -- has joined with the Cuban mission and they've taken over an unused building and are expanding their services quickly. My colleague, Roger, writes:

Zanmi is one of the largest health care delivery services in Haiti and its infrastructure was largely undamaged by the quake. It is staffed and managed by Haitians and has a full training program for Haitians to become doctors and other health professionals. Deliveries of equipment and personnel to its teams is seriously hampered by the situation at the P au P airport.

Lastly, the Aristide Foundation has established a medical facility, again in cooperation with Cuban doctors. In an ironic twist, the building that they're using was originally built under the Aristide government, and designated as a medical university. After the coup happened in 2004, the UN took it over as a troop residence. It's now acting in a medical capacity again. Haiti Action has been directing funding for efforts like this via their Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (HERF).

Some members of Canada Haiti Action believe (with cause, I think) that many Haitian-run organizations are taking on the lion's share of the work, but receiving the least amount of aid. I continue to believe in the groups that I previously recommended: MSF and Partners in Health. Sopudep and HERF are also really good places to direct contributions.

MSF Plane diverted

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) urges that its cargo planes carrying essential medical and surgical material be allowed to land in Port-au-Prince in order to treat thousands of wounded waiting for vital surgical operations. Priority must be given immediately to planes carrying lifesaving equipment and medical personnel.

Despite guarantees, given by the United Nations and the U.S. Defense Department, an MSF cargo plane carrying an inflatable surgical hospital was blocked from landing in Port-au-Prince on Saturday Jan. 16, and was re-routed to Samana, in Dominican Republic. All material from the cargo is now being sent by truck from Samana, but this has added a 24-hour delay for the arrival of the hospital.

A second MSF plane is currently on its way and scheduled to land today in Port- au-Prince at around 10:00 a.m. local time with additional lifesaving medical material and the rest of the equipment for the hospital. If this plane is also rerouted, then the installation of the hospital will be further delayed, in a situation where thousands of wounded are still in need of life saving treatment.

The inflatable hospital includes 2 operating theaters, an intensive care unit, 100-bed hospitalization capacity, an emergency room and all the necessary equipment needed for sterilizing material.

MSF teams are currently working around the clock in 5 different hospitals in Port-au-Prince, but only 2 operating theaters are fully functional, while a third operating theater has been improvised for minor surgery due to the massive influx of wounded and lack of functional referral structures.

— MSF Press release

Patrick Elie on Al-Jazeera

A few years ago, I saw Patrick Elie speak on the post-coup period in Haiti. It was one of the events that prompted my transition from someone who cared about Haiti, to full-blown Haiti activist. Here he is on Al-Jazeera, talking about the aid bottleneck in Haiti.