Haiti: A week After Disaster

A week after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, the country is still in dire need of more help. The United Nations Security Council has approved a proposal to send an additional 2,000 soldiers and 1,500 police officers to the small country. Never the less, hospitals have been over-crowded from the beginning and are running out of medical equipment and supplies. Doctors at the hospitals are using vodka to sterilize the limited medical instruments because there is no rubbing alcohol on hand. Treated patients lay outside with tents made of tarps and blankets providing some shelter. Formerly vacant buildings are being used for treating patients, due to the main hospital building being deemed unsafe. Things have gotten so bad that hospitals have ran out of needles and docters have began operating with hacksaws due to the lack of proper operating tools. It is reported that in the following days the military will be bringing in new supplies and helping with the orgnaization of the "hospital" areas. They will also assist in delivering patients to operating hospitals that will have the necessary docters, equipment and space necessary. Haitian President René Préval will be addressing the nation today according to his spokesman. The flow of supplies into Haiti has not been made easy due to congested roads and the crowded airport, and thousands of survivors have been left to scrounge for food and emergency aid. U.S. Air Force C-17 found a way around this airport congestion by dropping 55,000 pounds or about 40 pallots of bottled water and food into Haiti on Monday, the first U.S. airdrop of supplies. The deputy commander of Joint Task Force Unified Response, said today that U.S. forces intend to carry out more aerial drops, but it technically hasn't been made clear when those would occur. No death toll has been declared for the earthquake, which struck on the afternoon of January 12th. Some death tolls estimates range from 100,000 to 150,000 in Port-au-Prince alone. The United Nations estimates that 3 million people are need of food, water, sheltered and medical assistance. Outside of Haiti, people have contributed more than $220 million to major U.S. relief groups.

"Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think."
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow