Medical Team for Haiti

[Mr Furious]

Very sound advice/guidance from Big Money. FYI - I was under FOB 32 in 95 at the team house in Petite Goave. What you mention above resonates quite well with me.

[head]

Originally Posted by olhamada

Does a cat have climbing gear?

Well then, may the Lord keep your claws sharp.
Good luck and stay safe over there.

[frostfire]

Originally Posted by Brush Okie

Some diesel to burn the bodies if you cant bury them .

I know it's not exactly a hearts and mind mission, and people may not care in the midst of overwhelming physical needs, but check/verify the local religious/cultural aspects before starting any huge human bonfire. Perception is reality. Add to that several journalists with an agenda and you're done.

[frostfire]

Originally Posted by Brush Okie

If they get upset throw them on the pile as well.

Good point. I was in sanatation mode not CA mode. Thanks for the SA correction.

Assuming the article is accurate and relevant all across, your suggestion is GTG

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Prayers of thanksgiving and cries for help rose from Haiti's huddled homeless Sunday, the sixth day of an epic humanitarian crisis that was straining the world's ability to respond and igniting flare-ups of violence amid the rubble of Port-au-Prince.

Haitian police struggled to scatter hundreds of stone-throwing looters in the city's Vieux Marche, or Old Market. Elsewhere downtown, amid the smoke from bonfires burning uncollected bodies, gunfire rang out and bands of machete-wielding young men roamed the streets, faces hidden by bandanas.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100118/...iti_earthquake

[olhamada]

Well, as things have developed, I'm serving as more of an "on-the-ground" consultant, but because of work/family obligations won't be going. They leave tomorrow.

I really appreciate all the excellent information and acivice you've given. I am passing this on to the team going. Unfortunately, they are all civilian with no experience in hostile or even disaster areas and feel security issues are "overblown". They believe goodwill will overcome hostile intent. Oh well, what's the old saying? "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink"?

I hope and pray they stay safe despite their lack of SA.

They are going down to help a friend who runs an orphanage in Jacmel.

[Mr Furious]

Originally Posted by olhamada

They are going down to help a friend who runs an orphanage in Jacmel.

Only one way there by road, and hopefully its open for them. Best of luck.

[JJ_BPK]

Jacmel is a town of 40k people
3k ft semi-improved landing strip on the East side
Looks to be 40 miles, by road, from Port-au-Prince.

Not good ju-ju...




Vaya con Dios...

[QUOTE=olhamada;309073]Well, as things have developed, I'm serving as more of an "on-the-ground" consultant, but because of work/family obligations won't be going. They leave tomorrow.

I really appreciate all the excellent information and acivice you've given. I am passing this on to the team going. Unfortunately, they are all civilian with no experience in hostile or even disaster areas and feel security issues are "overblown". They believe goodwill win overcome hostile intent. Oh well, what's the old saying? "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink"?

I hope and pray they stay safe despite their lack of SA.

They are going down to help a friend who runs an orphanage in Jacmel.[/QUOTE]

Jacmel is on the south side of the island, pretty far from PaP.
Other side of the mtn so to speak. They will probably be okay.
TV shows it getting ugly in PaP.

Infil is on 2 single engine Piper aircraft with a payload of 700 kg each landing 50 km south of Port a Prince on a short hard dirt runway.

Can I safely assume this runway is near Jacmel? If is not on that side of the mtns, all roads lead through PaP.
Just looked at roadways.. nothing decent from the other side where the road stops at Belle-Anse. Rest would be 'tracks' that the locals use to get along the coast. Hope your freinds are carrying a sat phone. Tell them to not go out alone, twos.. groups..
Gatorage, powdered is worth its wt in gold in that heat. Correctly administered it should be half strength. Tell them to take natural clothing. It breathes and is hand washable. A few bottles of good dishsoap will be invaluable. Joy.. you can wash your dishes, clothes and self in it. Bleach, it is good for purifying water, wounds (heavily diluted) and cleaing surfaces.
I have, somewhere in my stuff here a recipe for homemade pedialyte, you want me to pm it to you? It is good for all ages. Salt tablets for those not used to the tropics..warn them about getting sunburned and make them carry sunscreen!
.
jacmel location

[sparks1]

For what it's worth...My brother (Former SF) went into Haiti last week for search and rescue. FIRST item on equipment list ...weapons for security of personnel and equipment. Team was fully equiped to be self sufficient for 10+ days.
I cannot contact him, the reason is cell service is sporadic. I suggest a solar charger for you cell phones. Available on the internet cheap enough to have a few around. No electricity to charge your satellite or cell phone. Recommend the satellite phone
+1 on the lists above. Be smart and be safe.
Oops... just got word he and his team will return to Miami Fri. He should be home a few days later.

[Red Flag 1]

edit

[greenberetTFS]

Originally Posted by Red Flag 1

Got an Eton Solarlink FR 360 hand crank/battery radio over the holidays; marketed by LL Bean. Has a cell phone charge ability via USB jack. Ten minutes of crank time is said to recharge enough for one or two, "short emergency calls". I have not tried this feature yet.

My first thought when I saw this thread was similar to most, ammo, ammo, and something use the ammo. Grim thoughts but essential IMHO.

RF 1

Jim,

That is a real handy piece of gear to have,wish I had it during Katrina.... We were out of cell service for 5 weeks,but after they got back up it would have been when we could have used it,that's for sure...............

Big Teddy

[sparks1]

Good idea on the radio.

USB jack to recharge cell phone...I guess I would need some kind of adaptor to connect to my phone. Radio Shack , or similiar , would have these.

Solar chargers seem to have a battery attached and lots of different connectors. Simply charge the battery and plug it into your phone...Should fully re-charge you cell in a short time. Unplug and recharge the battery on the solar charger. Cell phone is detached and ready to go.

[Red Flag 1]

edit

[olhamada]

Well, we've got 2 teams down there. One orthopedist in Jacmel who's doing a dozen cases a day under local and is physically and emotionally exhausted.

The second team consists of 2 anesthesiologists in Port au Prince at Kings Hospital. They need us to ship them two Drager units which we have now appropriated and palletized. Problem is we have no air transport.

I will post the actual payload dimentions shortly but each weighs about 300 kg. Any ideas on how to get these from Nashville to PaP?

Any help is certainly appreciated. I will also check with 160th, but probably need fixed wing.

Thanks!

[olhamada]

Originally Posted by olhamada

Well, we've got 2 teams down there. One orthopedist in Jacmel who's doing a dozen cases a day under local and is physically and emotionally exhausted.

The second team consists of 2 anesthesiologists in Port au Prince at Kings Hospital. They need us to ship them two Drager units which we have now appropriated and palletized. Problem is we have no air transport.

I will post the actual payload dimentions shortly but each weighs about 300 kg. Any ideas on how to get these from Nashville to PaP?

Any help is certainly appreciated. I will also check with 160th, but probably need fixed wing.

Thanks!

Ok, here's what my contact just wrote. Any ideas are appreciated!

"Once we crated and padded these two Draeger Anesthesia machines we found the approximate dimensions to be 72" x 40" x 40" each. The machines are boxed and banded in plywood. Inside the boxes are some auxillary anesthesia equipment strapped to the supporting pallet. The weight of each box is approximately 650 lbs. They need to go to King's Hospital in Port-au-Prince where Dr. Binney and Dr. Jameison are going to be working. How we get the boxes to them is also a challenge on top of just getting them to Port au Prince. Lemme know what you find out."