In Haiti, with 1,297 dead and more than 5,700 injured, the provisional toll of Saturday’s earthquake is so heavy that the country can no longer cope with the flow of victims in hospitals. Installed on benches, curled up on chairs or lying on the floor on sheets, the injured are piling up in the emergency department of the hospital in Cayes, the third largest city in the country.
“At the time of the earthquake, we were only three doctors in the department,” says Dr Michelet Paurus. “This morning (Sunday), things are getting better because we received orthopedists, surgeons and also 42 residents who are distributed in all the hospitals of the department”, explains the emergency physician.
A “chronic” lack of equipment
Rudolphe Steven Jacques, a 26-year-old doctor, is one of the health professionals from the capital, Port-au-Prince. “The lack of material is chronic, depending on the arrivals. See, this woman has been waiting for a while for me to suture her, but I don’t have a tray for that at the moment, ”regrets the practitioner, pointing to a large wound on the leg of a patient sitting in a corner.
In the small rooms of this hospital, patients and doctors jostle. “Many wounded are still arriving this morning, I was not expecting that: they are those who come from more remote areas”, assures Dr. Jacques. Immediately after the earthquake, the hospitals in Les Cayes were saturated.
Closed pharmacies
“When the earthquake happened I was at home. A vibration made me fly in the air and I landed on my arm. […] I went to several hospitals: but they were overloaded, ”recalls Venel Senate. “This morning I came here and was finally taken care of. I radioed for free and they also put that cast on me, free, ”he said relieved, showing his right arm. His house completely destroyed, he waits in the courtyard of the hospital for one of the drugs prescribed to him to be available at the establishment’s pharmacy, those located in the city center having remained closed.
Already treated but under observation, many injured people settle on the lawns around the buildings. They still fear going back inside the buildings, traumatized by the frequent aftershocks. “People are afraid to go home but tonight, we are going to have rain,” explains Dr Paurus. “We’re going to try to get them into that room because the roof is made of tin. For the children in the pediatric ward, we will try to set up tents on the yard, ”he adds.
Tropical Storm Grace could indeed affect the area in the coming hours. “If it rains as much as we predict, we really don’t know what we’re going to do. It’s in quick succession, we can’t, ”Dr Michelet Paurus alarmed. In order for the island to recover from the horror, the aid promised by the international community is therefore eagerly awaited.