Messages from the field 1/16/10

What's been on the minds of Partners In Health/Zanmi Lasante staff over the past 24 hours? Below are just a few thoughts selected from the torrent of emails that circulated through our servers:

• From Port-au-Prince: Our team has been designated by the WHO to serve as the coordinators of the public University Hospital (HUEH) alongside Haitian Ministry of Health. In that role, PIH is supporting the administration and staff in restoring services at the city's central hospital, which will also serve as the base of operations for our emergency triage and surgical teams in Port-au-Prince and for referring patients who need more advanced care for transport to our facilities in the Central Plateau and Lower Artibonite.

• 	A plane of volunteer surgical teams prepares to depart to Port-au-Prince.

  From the Port-au-Prince airport: Planes arrived from Florida, New York, and Montreal, carrying volunteers surgical teams and surgical supplies, blankets, and water. Pulling out the stops to quickly unload and route people and supplies to where they’re needed most.
• From HUEH/Port-au-Prince: Surgical teams slept at the hospital with all their supplies so they could begin surgeries at 6am this morning.
• From St. Marc: Hundreds of patients are in need of surgery. Eagerly awaiting a surgical team—which is now on its way from Port-au-Prince. 
• From Cange doctor: Planning to host the other surgical teams, and organizing where to station them throughout the Central Plateau.
• From on road from Belladère: Racing from the Dominican Republic—a medical team from Dartmouth flew into Santo Domingo yesterday and are en route to Cange now. 
• From Cange hospital: We've had a number of severely injured patients trickle in today saying that they've been trying for days to get here but transportation/gas prices were too high. 
• From Belladère: The mayor asked us for our help to find housing for all the newly homeless people arriving from Port-au-Prince.