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A Letter of Thanks from a Medical Team in Haiti
from George Collins PA-C, Mission Team Leader, OrthoCarolina
On Jan 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated the country of Haiti. The epicenter of the earthquake was just miles from the capital city of Port-au-Prince, a very densely populated region of Haiti. The structural damage was extensive and the city lost most of its infrastructure. It is estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 people were killed as a result of the earthquake and many more than that were injured. Many people remain missing.
In response to the critical need for healthcare providers in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, a team of 22 healthcare workers including physicians, surgeons, physician assistants, and physician assistant students from the Charlotte / Matthews, NC area traveled on a medical mission trip to Les Cayes, Haiti. Located in the southwest portion of Haiti, Les Cayes had seen its population grow significantly in the time after the earthquake as people fled the Port-au-Prince area. The hospital there was struggling to manage the influx of sick and injured people.
The medical team was hosted by El Shaddai Ministries International, a well established Christian ministry in Haiti. ESMI provided housing and food for the volunteers and assisted them with establishing a relationship with the hospital in Les Cayes. At both Immaculate Conception Hospital in Les Cayes and at the orphanage where they stayed, surgeons and PAs operated using instruments refurbished by Instruments of Mercy®. The success of their mission was in large part due to the number of instruments donated and the fact that each instrument had been carefully sharpened and/or refurbished for the trip by IOM.
I am grateful to Instruments of Mercy for their donation of time and services. We couldn't have served so many or so well without you!
