AHVED Medical Team Joins the Massive Relief Effort in Haiti
Palm Beach County Doctors and Nurses Work to Address Growing Desperation for Medical Care
Lake Worth, FL, January 21, 2010 – More than a week after an earthquake brought their world crashing down around them; tens of thousand of people in Haiti still suffer from a lack of medical care. Much of the international relief effort is focused on Port-Au-Prince, but the pressure is building at hospitals in outlying communities. A medical team sponsored by the Association of Haitians Living Abroad for Development is now on the ground at one such hospital.
AHVED recruited 30 doctors, nurses and other health care professionals from Palm Beach County and elsewhere for the effort. The team will help treat a growing number patients at St. Nicholas Hospital in St. Marc, located about 35 miles south of Haiti’s capital. St. Nicholas has just 50 beds, but over 400 earthquake survivors have poured into the area with crushed limbs, head injuries, cuts, bruises and various infections.
“Haiti is becoming like a morgue,” said Pauline Jean Simone, AHVED President. “I don’t think anyone could watch what’s going on there and do nothing.”
St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach donated medical supplies including bandages, syringes, surgical equipment, antibiotics and other medications. The 14 doctors and 11 nurses expect to work around the clock to keep up with the patient load. AHVED’
AHVED is a non-profit, 501 © (3) community organization based in Lake Worth, Florida. AHVED’s mission is to empower people throughout the Haitian Diaspora through community-based advocacy, provide desperately needed educational opportunities for children who live in Haiti and help Haitian immigrants in the U.S. successfully integrate into American society by promoting education, literacy, positive youth activities, patriotism and social responsibility.
