Yale team provides medical relief in Haiti
[January 2010] A team of Yale School of Medicine and Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) physicians and other medical professionals trained in disaster response flew out of Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Haiti, two weeks after the country was hit by a devastating earthquake. Team members were chosen for their specialties, their experience with similar volunteer efforts and their language skills.
Members of the Yale team unload supplies in Hinche, Haiti.
Photo courtesy of Dassault Falcon
“We had a broad range of talented medical people who were eager to help in Haiti,” said David J. Leffell, MD, Deputy Dean for Clinical Affairs. “Doctors are used to responding in acute situations. But we also know the problem in Haiti isn’t going to be fixed in a few months, it could take a decade to rebuild. So while we try to provide immediate help for survivors, together with other parts of the university, we are looking at other ways to contribute over the long term.”
Yale’s medical response team in Haiti consists of:
- Gregory Luke Larkin, MD, emergency medicine, Yale Medical Group
- Donald MacMillan, PA, emergency medicine
- Tom Kimberly, APRN, emergency medicine
- Nousheh Saidi, MD, anesthesiology, Yale Medical Group
- Peter Boone, MD, orthopaedics, St. Vincent's Medical Center, Bridgeport
As the team prepared to leave New Haven, the massive crisis caused by the January 12 earthquake had left an estimated 150,000 dead and thousands missing. The team members prepared for their work of helping survivors with a long strategy session and a quick course on Haitian society and Creole phrases.
They left Yale before dawn in a van donated by American Medical Response ambulance company, which also donated a defibrillator, and flew out of New Jersey on board a private aircraft donated by Corporate Aircraft Responding in Emergencies (CARE), a network of aviation specialists who assist as first responders to catastrophic events. They landed in Cap-Haitien, where they were to be transported to the Hinche region to link up with Partners in Health, a Boston-based organization that has been working on the ground in Haiti for more than 20 years.
In addition to providing emergency and surgical expertise, the team carried humanitarian aid including donated medical equipment and supplies to treat the injuries of thousands of people and prevent further spread of infection.
In other efforts, YNHH, the New Haven chapter of the NAACP and other community organizations in New Haven created a fund that the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven will administer for relief and reconstruction in Haiti.
[January 2010] A team of Yale School of Medicine and Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) physicians and other medical professionals trained in disaster response flew out of Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Haiti, two weeks after the country was hit by a devastating earthquake. Team members were chosen for their specialties, their experience with similar volunteer efforts and their language skills.
Members of the Yale team unload supplies in Hinche, Haiti.
Photo courtesy of Dassault Falcon
“We had a broad range of talented medical people who were eager to help in Haiti,” said David J. Leffell, MD, Deputy Dean for Clinical Affairs. “Doctors are used to responding in acute situations. But we also know the problem in Haiti isn’t going to be fixed in a few months, it could take a decade to rebuild. So while we try to provide immediate help for survivors, together with other parts of the university, we are looking at other ways to contribute over the long term.”
Yale’s medical response team in Haiti consists of:
- Gregory Luke Larkin, MD, emergency medicine, Yale Medical Group
- Donald MacMillan, PA, emergency medicine
- Tom Kimberly, APRN, emergency medicine
- Nousheh Saidi, MD, anesthesiology, Yale Medical Group
- Peter Boone, MD, orthopaedics, St. Vincent's Medical Center, Bridgeport
As the team prepared to leave New Haven, the massive crisis caused by the January 12 earthquake had left an estimated 150,000 dead and thousands missing. The team members prepared for their work of helping survivors with a long strategy session and a quick course on Haitian society and Creole phrases.
They left Yale before dawn in a van donated by American Medical Response ambulance company, which also donated a defibrillator, and flew out of New Jersey on board a private aircraft donated by Corporate Aircraft Responding in Emergencies (CARE), a network of aviation specialists who assist as first responders to catastrophic events. They landed in Cap-Haitien, where they were to be transported to the Hinche region to link up with Partners in Health, a Boston-based organization that has been working on the ground in Haiti for more than 20 years.
In addition to providing emergency and surgical expertise, the team carried humanitarian aid including donated medical equipment and supplies to treat the injuries of thousands of people and prevent further spread of infection.
In other efforts, YNHH, the New Haven chapter of the NAACP and other community organizations in New Haven created a fund that the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven will administer for relief and reconstruction in Haiti.
