Haiti
IAEM members were prominent in the humanitarian response to the 2010 earthquake
On the 12th January 2010, a devastating earthquake on the Caribbean island country of Haiti caused much loss of life and destruction to this impoverished nation and provoked a national and international humanitarian response.
Two members of the Association, Dr Sinead O’Gorman and Dr Michael Sweeney, Consultants in Emergency Medicine at Letterkenny and Sligo General Hospitals respectively, travelled to Haiti in late January 2010 as part of the initial GOAL humanitarian response. Their involvement was to provide emergency medicine expertise to those who have been injured in the incident. As the two northwest based Consultants in Emergency Medicine prepared to return, they were joined by Dr Paul Kelly, a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at Wexford General & Waterford Regional Hospital.
Reflection: Read Dr Sweeney’s Reflection on his experience including some pictures from his three weeks in Haiti.
IAEM member, Dr Michael Molloy, an Irish emergency medicine trainee then completing a Disaster Medicine Fellowship at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, Boston, USA, was involved in co-ordinating this hospital’s team in its response to the Haiti earthquake.
Photo Gallery
Dr Paul Kelly, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Wexford General & Waterford Regional Hospitals (Right) receiving a handover from colleague Dr Michael Sweeney at their makeshift clinic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on 11th February 2010
Dr Michael Sweeney, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Sligo General Hospital at the GOAL offices in Dun Laoghaire prior to his departure to Haiti on 24th January 2010.
Dr Sinead O’Gorman, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Letterkenny General Hospital prior to her departure to Haiti on 22nd January 2010.