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The living are trying to sleep, bunked down on old sheets or plastic on one side of the street; on the other side, the dead are lined up swathed in whatever wrapping can be found. Images of the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti are horrific and are inspiring health care workers, engineers, social workers and rescue teams to volunteer to help.
Where does one go to volunteer and what is necessary to qualify?
Criteria
Project HOPE (http://www.projecthope.org/) is collecting a database of volunteers and has publicized their needs and requirements.
First, the needs! Besides physicians, the organization is looking for pediatric nurse practitioners, CRNAs, certified nurse midwives (the U.N. Population Fund estimates there could be as many as 37,000 pregnant women among the 3 million people affected by Haiti's earthquake) and other health care providers. They are asking for volunteers with experience in disaster relief operations, a knowledge of Haiti and if possible, the ability to speak French or Creole.
While Project HOPE will coordinate lodging, meals, security and communication access for volunteers, they ask volunteers to self-fund air transport to Haiti. And you have to be able to travel light. Project Hope is asking volunteers to bring no more than one backpack of clothing and one medium-sized bag you can carry on the plane.
To volunteer you need current immunizations in:
• MMR
• DPT
• polio
• influenza
• chickenpox/varicella
• hepatitis A (or IG), hep B
• typhoid
• malaria chemoprophylaxis
Other Ways to Help
Obviously, not everyone can volunteer to travel to Haiti. Marcia Lane, the director of the Haiti Nursing Foundation, which provides financial support to the 5-year old nursing school Faculté des Sciences Infirmières de l'Université Episcopale d'Haïti (FSIL) in Léogâne, has received many e-mails from supporters wanting to volunteer.
"We are encouraging private citizens to focus their efforts on supporting established aid organizations that are deploying resources to Haiti, and to hold off on travelling there themselves." Lane told ADVANCE senior editor Valerie Neff Newitt. "There are many excellent organizations working in Haiti, and it's easy to find the most effective, reputable ones."
An article at Forbes.com may help you find a respected charity. "How to Spot Dubious Haiti Charity Pleas" at http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/13/haiti-earthquake-charities-personal-finance-spotting-scams.html, provides tips on identifying bogus charities, as well as link to the most respected, established charities.
Check out the American Red Cross http://ui.constantcontact.com/visualeditor/www.redcross.org; The Global Orphan Project, www.theglobalorphanproject.org; Episcopal Relief and Development, http://ui.constantcontact.com/visualeditor/www.er-d.org, and Partners in Health, www.pih.org.
Thousands Mobilized
Besides private organizations, such as the University of Miami, which sent a team of doctors and nurses to Haiti and expects to transfer some patients to South Florida hospitals, there are others who have are very familiar with the health care needs of Haitians.
Paul Farmer, MD, founder of Partners in Health and subject of the bestselling book Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder, has worked on the island for years opening several hospitals and clinics.
Kidder reported to ADVANCE editor Amy McGuire what he has heard from Farmer since the earthquake.
"We have already begun to implement a two-part strategy to address the immediate need for emergency medical care in Port-au-Prince," Farmer e-mailed Kidder and PIH supporters. "First, we are organizing the logistics to get the medical staff and supplies needed for setting up field hospital sites in Port-au-Prince where we can triage patients, provide emergency care, and send those who need surgery or more complex treatment to our functioning hospitals and surgical facilities.
"To do this, we are creating a supply chain through the Dominican Republic," Farmer went on. "Second, we are ensuring our facilities in the Central Plateau are ready to serve the flow of patients from Port-au-Prince. Operating and procedure rooms are staffed, supplied and equipped for surgeries and we have converted a church in Cange into a large triage area."
And as one report on NPR.org documented, even with a horrible road system and little support, the wounded are finding their way to functioning health care facilities.
"Already our sites in Cange and Hinche are reporting a steady flow of people coming with medical needs from the capital city," Farmer confirmed. "In the days that come we will need to make sure our pharmacies and supplies stay stocked and our staff continue to be able to respond.
"Currently, our greatest need is financial support. Haiti is facing a crisis worse than it has seen in years."
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