Shoreline firefighter tells of serving on medical team in Haiti

Eric Adman in Haiti

In January we told you about Shoreline firefighter/paramedic Eric Adman's plans to travel to Port Au Prince, Haiti on January 26 for 7-10 days on a volunteer medical mission with EMPACT/Disaster Response Northwest. Here is his account with his pictures of the experience.

By Eric Adman

In January 2011, I traveled with firefighters from Shoreline and Bothell to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, on a medical relief mission with EMPACT / Disaster Response Northwest.

I left home with some anxiety over malaria, Dengue fever, cholera, recent violent political demonstrations and State Department warnings.

Extensive damage to the Presidential Palace

 The scene we found in Port-Au-Prince was a mixture of dusty roads, terrible air and water pollution, collapsed and damaged buildings, rubble piles, tent camps, burning garbage, and crazy traffic. 

The only way to get rid of garbage is to burn it

School children

Amongst this, most people are neat, clean, and friendly, going about their lives. School children in uniforms walk on their way to school. Vendors sell all kinds of goods on the side of the road. Many buildings are still intact, some are nicely painted; all have bars on their windows and doors. 

Private guards with shotguns stand outside gas stations and grocery stores. On the outskirts of town are beautiful green hills and family farms, and the EMPACT Haiti house.

The wall around our house was topped with broken bottles

Like most Haitian buildings, it is concrete block, with a high surrounding wall topped with broken bottles, big metal gates, and barred windows and doors. 

In the yard, we had a mango tree and an almond tree, plus a resident tarantula. 

Partly collapsed houses were nearby

The neighborhood included intact houses, houses collapsed or under construction, a tent camp, farms, and a beautiful creek and waterfall. We slept on cots with mosquito nets.

We lived with our team of translators, a nice bunch of young Haitian men and 1 woman, mostly in their early 20’s. Most had been either students or teachers until the earthquake changed everything. I may be twice their age, but they have twice the life experience. They are very heart-felt about helping their families and country. Though raised in slums and tent camps, they are educated and articulate. EMPACT/DRNW pays and houses them, and provides a house for visiting teams.

Most days we worked at what had been a small amusement park before the quake, now a medical clinic and field hospital. We were “doctors” for people who ordinarily did not get much medical care. It was a bit of a surreal setting.

One of the large tent cities

We visited some impressively clean and organized cholera treatment centers. 

Doctors there said cholera cases were decreasing, and only a few of the treatment beds were occupied.

Large Baptist church

On Sunday, our translators took us to a Baptist church service with lots of gospel music. 

Like most people in Haiti, our translators are very devout.

Orphanage

We also visited an orphanage, which was uplifting and depressing at the same time. 

The kids seemed happy, but there were probably 75 of them in a small house. 

There are many orphans in Haiti, many of whom live on the street, especially after the earthquake. 

Tents line the road by the airport

Seeing Haiti first-hand made me realize how relatively rich we are here in the US. As I like to say, the “problems” we deal with here are “just re-arranging the frosting on our cake.”

EMPACT, a local non-profit started by a Gig Harbor paramedic, has been sending medical teams to Haiti since the earthquake. Recently, they sent a team to Japan. You can get more information or contribute to EMPACT at their website.