Physician Eyewitness in Haiti
A London pediatrician's diary shows that Haiti desperately needs, more than surgeons, supplies and coordination.
Writing for the Evening Standard, Dr. Nathaniel Segaren of the Caris Foundation, logs his week of guilt, frustration, appall, effort, and anguish among the mayhem. He concludes, "I realise we can be of most help with our knowledge of the city's geography and our ability to speak a combination of French, English and Creole." The ultimate intent becomes to select, with exceptional agony, those patients for transfer to a floating US Navy hospital—which is already beyond capacity.
"There are lots of egos here and mini power struggles," Segaren observes, "People are desperate to claim credit and get maximum media coverage."
From the UN via Flickr: Photo of 18-year-old Haitian girl with head trauma being transported to USS Comfort, a floating hospital.
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What I think was the New York fire department reminded me of a bunch of PR flacks as they rescued some poor kid from the wreckage only to reposition her into the tableau they had created for the hordes of news media they had assembled for the purpose.