Joint Canadian/Norwegian ERU Field Hospital arrives in Port-au-Prince
By Annette Bokkenheuser. Photos by Marko Kokic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
7 October 2004
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The fully equipped 100 bed field hospital is in response to the Federation’s revised floods appeal for Haiti launched on October 5, 2004 to assist the people in the northern city of Gonaives and surrounding communes affected by Hurricane Jeanne. While the basic infrastructure of the only referral hospital, La Providence, is still in place, it was severely damaged with all equipment and furnishings having been destroyed by mud and flood waters, the generator has been lost and wells contaminated.
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Says Brynjulf Ystgaard, a Norwegian surgeon, member of the ERU team “we will work hard to have the hospital and medical equipment ready to receive the first patients this coming Monday. We will provide good services to the population based on the level of medical services which existed before the disaster - this is the only reasonable way to look at it.
The hospital will provide the typical services of a referral hospital: general surgery, reanimation, pediatrics, maternity services and internal medicine with all technical and support services. Once the local hospital is rehabilitated, the field hospital will be dismantled and all medical equipment and activities transferred to La Providence Hospital”.
On the ground in Gonaives, the Federation-deployed Spanish ERU specialized water and sanitation team of 8 people has worked round the clock in preparation of the arrival of the hospital to ensure high quality water, showers and latrines for the hospital and the living quarters.
The 260x118 meter site in Gonaives where the hospital will be set up was identified. The support provided by the ICRC resulted in identifying the owners of the site and the signature of a contract which guarantees use of the site for a six month period at no cost.
Eleven medical Canadian delegates, including an anesthetist and five ward nurses, will arrive on Saturday completing the Canadian/Norwegian partnership. “This is an example of excellent Movement cooperation with the active involvement of all partners”, says Charlie Musoka, Canadian Red Cross Emergencies Officer. “It is the first time that the Canadian Red Cross embarks on a joint project of such a magnitude, but it will certainly not be the last. I hope that this project will become an inspiration for all members of the Red Cross Movement”
The field hospital is expected to run for six months. Tents from the hospital and living quarters will be donated to the Haitian Red Cross to boost the relief stocks of the National Society, whose material resources have been depleted after having suffered three consecutive disasters in less than a year.
