Page 17 - GP FALL 2010

Dentistry and sit on the Board of Directors for Nassau County
Dental Society.
GP: Those are some impressive credentials! So what influ-
enced your decision to go on a mission to Haiti? Did you need
to take any special precautions medically prior to your mis-
sion?
FM: Through the Stanley Barbot Medical Mission and various
other organizations, I’ve participated in over twenty medical
missions to countries such as Haiti, Jamaica, South Africa,
Ghana, Guyana, St. Vincent’s, St. Lucia, and the Lower Ninth
Ward in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Since both of
my parents were Haitian and I still have family members there,
it only seemed natural for me to contribute in any way I could.

All of my vaccines were up-to-date since I have been on many
previous medical missions. I did take a bottle of Noroxin Organizing and setting up instruments and supplies. This would be my
antibiotics previously prescribed to me to stop diarrhea. I also “office”.
took a box of Imodium as a preventive measure. Thankfully, I
did not have to use any of them.

GP: What was your first impression of the devastation in
Haiti?
FM: From the air, as the plane was descending, we noticed
myriads of blue dots on the landscape which turned out to be
tarps that were used to make up the tents for the tent cities that
were now peoples’ homes after the devastating January 12th
earthquake.
We landed on Aeoport Toussaint L’Ouverture in Port-au-Prince
and the damage from the earthquake was immediately evident.
The airport itself was closed (deemed unsafe due to structural
damage) so a shuttle bus took us to a hangar where we were to
clear customs and retrieve our luggage. Needless to say, since
this was a hangar, there was no ventilation and the air was sti-
flingly hot. Proper documentations were presented to Haitian Local volunteers assigned to help.
customs agents by the Medical Director of the mission, Henri
R. Paul, MD, allowing us to enter the country with Lidocaine
which we brought to perform dental procedures. We had about
30 boxes of Lidocaine – 10 were purchased and the rest were
donated by Dorcas Medical Mission and a dentist from SUNY
Downstate Medical Center. All other medications had been
shipped prior to our arrival and were waiting for us at the site
where we were going to work.

GP: How were your accommodations during the mission?
FM: All the hotels were fully booked so we stayed in a rented
home which was welcoming and comfortable. We were fortu-
nate. The group of EMTs and nurses that joined us from
Tacoma was unable to get accommodations and had to sleep in
tents at the field hospital where we worked.

GP: Could you tell us about your mission?
FM: We arrived on Friday, June 18 so the weekend was spent
unpacking, organizing, setting up equipment, supplies, and lay- Buildings destroyed by the earthquake.
ing out instruments in anticipation of Monday’s busy work
schedule. This was all crucial to saving time. We were set to
work at two sites. The primary site was AIMER-HAITI We visited AIMER-HAITI Hospital on Saturday and were
Hospital which is a privately run facility set up at an aban- greeted and given a tour by the hospital’s administrator. We
doned amusement park converted into a field hospital after the were shown the waiting areas, the tent where general surgeries
earthquake. The secondary site was Eliazare Germain Hospital take place, where patients are seen on an outpatient basis, and
- a state run hospital in a section of Haiti known as Petionville. the pharmacy. Patients have no out of pocket expense. She
The field hospital was staffed by a local physician. I was to be thanked us for coming and as a small token of appreciation for
the first dentist to see patients there. our services; she told us that we would be served a hot lunch
every day.
www.nysagd.org | Fall 2010 | GP 17