Heavy Lifting--Doctors Without Borders--April 2012
Doctors Without Borders in Haiti is directing and staffing Cholera Treatment Centers (CTC) in the Port-au-Prince area. During this rainy season, the number of cholera cases increased and sick people need a place to go very quickly for IV hydration. From what I have seen here in Port, Doctors Without Borders is doing the heavy lifting regarding cholera. (I realize there are many more organizations involved in fighting cholera, but it seems like MSF is always "bailing me out" when I have a sick patient.)
I stopped by a CTC run by MSF-France today. (Doctors Without Borders translates to Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). It is an area called Drouillard which is a section in LaPlaine. (Drouillard is spelled Douya in Haitian Kreyol. I know this could get confusing….) It is located just a few miles north of Cite Soleil.
This CTC is known by the locals as MSF-Drouillard. They have 60 cots and 52 of them are occupied. They received 19 new cholera patients just today.
Drouillard's roads are dirt and have huge car-eating potholes filled with water. They almost impassable with a vehicle.
It is very difficult for a real sick cholera patient from Soleil to get to Drouillard with the roads as bad as they are. As a rule, poor people with cholera have no private transportation, they have no access to an ambulance, and tap-tap drivers are not wild about the idea of transporting sick cholera patients anywhere.
Drouillard–August 29, 2012 (Photo by John Carroll)
John A. Carroll, MD
www.haitianhearts.org
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