Our Disaster Dude, Ontario Director of Disaster Management, John Saunders (@CRCSaunders), has been in Haiti working with a team deployed with the first ever field Canadian Red Cross field hospital. John has been there for four weeks and will soon be returning to Canada. Earlier this week, John did an interview with CBC’s Metro Morning. Click here to listen to that interview.
Check out this Q-A with him.
How do you help Haitians with cholera?
When people looking for treatment come here, one of first things we do is an initial decontamination where they go through a chlorine footbath. Then, patients are triaged and placed in ward tents based on severity. The basic thing we can do is provide ORS (Oral Rehydration Solution) to replace potassium, electrolytes and water. For people who have cholera, it is dehydration that weakens them and can lead to death.
Is the treatment being provided working?
Cholera is the type of disease that can be treated quickly and we can see an impact – almost immediately - on the patients. For the most severe cases, we get them on an IV and they often respond quickly. It’s rewarding work because we are preventing deaths. Our team meets regularly with many NGOs, the Red Cross Federation and various Red Cross National Societies. That collaboration is making a difference and we are starting to see fatalities from cholera starting to drop.
What is it like being in Haiti working at the field hospital?
Mentally, it can be tiring. The Haitians have been through so much - many of these people have been traumatized 3 or 4 times over the past year, with the earthquake, floods, hurricanes and now cholera. It is heart-breaking to see these living conditions and know what these folks have been through. Yet Haitians continue to have hope that things will get better. It’s their resilience that is so inspiring.
What’s it like being away from your family at Christmas?
My family says it’s their Christmas present to Haiti for me to not be with them. It is, after all, the season of giving! It is a great feeling to be able to use my training both medical and administrative to help combat the cholera outbreak.
Did you do anything to mark the holidays in Haiti?
On Christmas Day, our team had canned turkey chunks and cranberries for a Christmas lunch. Folks from the Japanese Red Cross joined us and brought miso soup and other Japanese snacks. They also gave us all a decorated set of chopsticks.