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The number of dead in Haiti reached 17 on Monday and the number of injured doubled after disaster response volunteers finally reached some isolated communities affected by the magnitude 5.9 earthquake that rocked Saturday. Northern region.
A total of 333 people were injured, said the Office of Emergency Preparedness, as it embarked on a painstaking process of trying to coordinate the help provided by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and NGOs. 39, other humanitarian groups, while seeking ways to obtain help for the victims. homes during tremors or stayed too scared to sleep indoors.
"We are in the street. We have nowhere to live. Our house is destroyed, "said Agathe Beaubrun, after arriving at the main public hospital in Port-de-Paix, Immaculate Conception Hospital, to undergo medical treatment. "All the children are crying. We do not know what to do. "
After two days of searching for the victims of the disaster, the country entered the response phase on Monday. The government faced two challenges: caring for the wounded and managing fears.
"All we see on the road to Port-de-Paix is rice and water. This is not the priority, "said Senator Evalière Beauplan, an opposition member representing the Northwest. On the contrary, he said, the most critical need "is to treat the wounded. They are the doctors, the nurses, the tents that people need. Until now, you do not see tents coming for people. "
The frustrations of slow reaction were evident elsewhere.
In Pilate, a rural community outside the northern city of Cap-Haitien, a member of the Lower House of Deputies spoke to the radio to ask for information. help, saying that many of the 21 people injured in the area could not get to emergency medical services. because of an overflowing river.
"Almost all infrastructure has been damaged," Deputy Worms Perilus later told the Miami Herald, noting that about 500 families had been affected, 476 damaged buildings and 57 homes destroyed in the area.
In Port-de-Paix, a hard-hit district, where at least eight people have died and dozens of wounded were initially fired from the main public hospital on Saturday night, the call was launched for tents and patients.
"Because the buildings have cracks, the staff will not enter," said Dr. Peter Rubens, standing near one of the four tents in the yard. "If we could find tents, it would help us and allow us to work better and give patients some assurance of receiving the care they need."
While some patients were resting on beds, others were lying on the floor, moaning with broken leg pain as a result of falling concrete and metal.
Pierre said that the hospital, which was to be rebuilt, was in poor condition before the earthquake and that it was even worse. "We would like to provide care," he said. "Those of us who are here and who are working in the emergency area are putting a lot of effort into providing care to those who are sick even before the earthquake. And we do it with very little means. "
The hospital director, Saeely Polycarpe, confirmed that doctors had been forced to abandon the hospital on Saturday after wounded patients crowded in at the hospital. a power failure and acted aggressively towards doctors.
The police were called and on Sunday the staff regained control. But then, another earthquake, a replica of 5.2, struck around 16 hours.
"Everyone missed. All patients left and said that they would not come back, "said Polycarpe.
He has since installed a tent in the yard, large enough to accommodate about 15 patients. But patients, worried that the damaged infrastructure of the hospital will collapse, have been slow to come.
Nevertheless, he said, the hospital was asking anyone with a tent to bring it to the field.
Last Sunday, the Haitian government ordered the police to ban any humanitarian convoy that did not have the authorization of the Office of Civil Protection to provide help. It is to avoid such problems, according to officials, who have occurred in Haiti in previous disasters, when humanitarian groups and NGOs went directly to communities to distribute aid without coordination. .
When Hurricane Matthew hit the South and Grand Anse regions of the country two years ago, for example, some communities received a lot of help while others did not. have not received. But restricting aid distribution requires coordination from the government, which is not renowned for working with urgency or having strong institutions. Some also fear that the government's restrictions on support groups will deter some from helping.
Others, however, welcomed the announcement and believe that it will avoid duplication of effort.
"We, the partners, must support the government's leading role," said Mamadou Diallo, Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Mission for Justice and Support to Justice in Haiti.
Diallo said the United States had deployed a trauma surgeon and other medical staff in the affected area. They plan to send more teams Tuesday to help the Office of Emergency Preparedness to assess its needs.
The number of homes damaged or destroyed is still being assessed. According to the government, at least 168 homes were destroyed and 2,280 were damaged in the northern region, which has about 3.2 million inhabitants and some of Haiti's poorest communities. More than 7,700 families are in urgent need of assistance.
"We believe this is a good step for the Office of Civil Protection to ensure coordination and ensure that organizations work together to maximize coverage," said Beth Carroll, coordinator of the response to Haiti for Catholic Relief Services. "That should make us faster."
Carroll said that CRS was working closely with the government and that after a preliminary assessment meeting on Sunday, they were pulling the tents out of their warehouse in Haiti for Port-de-Paix.
A preliminary assessment by CRS teams sent to the northwest almost immediately after the earthquake raised concerns about access to emergency medical services.
"The major hospitals report that they have limited capacity to meet needs," said Robyn Fieser, Regional Marketing Manager of CRS for Latin America and the Caribbean. Fieser said his teams were in Port-de-Paix Hospital on Sunday as tremors continued.
"The hospital has suffered new damage and the population remains very tense, fearing a new earthquake. Many injuries in the [northern region] are attributed to panic and the resulting accidents, so we know that this fear has very real consequences, "she said.
Additional help continues to arrive. Based in Florida Food For the Poor says sends 10 pallets of kerosene stoves, canned sausages, blankets, battery-powered flashlights and personal hygiene items to Haiti, as well as eight pallets of tarpaulins to charity offices in Port-au-Prince. Prince and Cap Haitien. Improved kerosene stoves shipped to Haiti before the earthquake are also intended for relief operations.
Cuba also said it had sent two mobile surgical teams to the quake-ravaged regions of northwestern Haiti to help Haitian health workers.
Cuban media reported that a team had operated a Haitian doctor at La Providence Hospital in Gonaives, where other patients, mostly from the Gros Morne community, were also seen. . The other surgical team began working in Port-de-Paix, where she had already treated about 164 patients shortly after their arrival.
The Cuban Medical Brigade in Haiti, which currently has about 600 doctors, nurses and medical technicians in 10 departments, has been active in the country for 20 years.
Cuban health professionals have long experience in responding quickly and effectively when Haiti suffers natural disasters. During the 2010 earthquake, there were 344 Cuban medical workers in Haiti. They began offering emergency health care and set up two field hospitals immediately after the earthquake. A day later, they had seen 1,987 patients and performed 111 surgeries.
The latest earthquakes and aftershocks were also felt in the eastern provinces of Guantánamo, Santiago and Holguín, in the Cuban state. Baracoa, Caimanera, Cueto, Moa, Sagua de Tánamo, Maisí, Mayarí, Tacajó, Songo-La Maya, Segundo Frente and Santiago de Cuba were among the affected communities. No damage has been reported.
Miami Herald Cuba correspondent Mimi Whitefield wrote the report from Miami and journalist Ychmuth Corneille from Port-de-Paix.
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