Haiti recovery will take decades, Vero Beach doctor says
By Janet Begley
Posted April 2, 2010 at 6:33 p.m.

VERO BEACH — When Dermatologist Dr. Neil Heskel traveled to Haiti at the end of March, he knew the situation in this earthquake-ravaged nation would be bad.

But what Heskel found was even worse that he could have imagined.

“Haiti is in a terrible situation, said Heskel, who is the president of the Vero Beach-based Haiti Clinic. “The need is enormous and it will be that way for decades.”

Heskel and nine other medical colleagues, three doctors, three nurses, one emergency medical technician and two volunteers, carried 21 bags of medications and supplies to their clinic on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. But the need was so enormous they opened a satellite clinic in Soutane, an even poorer neighborhood, about a half-mile away.

The new clinic consisted on an army tent pitched on a vacant lot. It opened to standing-room-only crowds, with many patients seeing a doctor for the first time in their lives.

“Many children had the orange hair and distended abdomens from a protein deficiency,” Heskel said. “We treated many infections with the thousands of medications we were purchased through donations.”

Housing remains a major problem for people who lost their meager homes to the earthquake.

“The lucky ones have tents,” said Heskel. “But most people are just living in the streets. There are pigs wallowing and kids walking through raw sewage with no shoes. I don’t know how it could be any worse.”

Throughout the weekend, Heskel’s team treated 1,170 people, with illnesses ranging from ringworm to scabies to vaginitis.

“We saw the usual and the worse than usual,” said Heskel. “And we saw many people with infections that we were not able to treat like malaria, tuberculosis and undiagnosed AIDS.”

If there is a bright side to the situation, Heskel said the Haiti Clinic is functioning better than ever before.

“We have a Haitian doctor who sees patients regularly and is helping more people with chronic diseases,” said Heskel. “And we know what drugs to take with us. But while the operation is getting better, there’s really no end in sight.”

Heskel urged local medical personnel to consider making a Humanitarian trip to Haiti.

“You don’t have to be the best ER doctor to make a difference,” said Heskel. “You just need to know more than your patients. If you want to do it, you really can.”

Universally, most American volunteers with the Haiti Clinic are anxious to return, Heskel said. “The doctors and nurses just want to go back and help,” he said. “The people in Haiti are so brave; it’s a daily struggle just to find food for their family and make sure you don’t die from something.”

TO HELP:

In addition to cash donations, the Haiti Clinic is looking for laptop computers to computerize medical records for patients they see in at the Mission Ranch.

Donations of new reading glasses would be especially welcome, since many of the patients are unable to see clearly. To make a donation or for more information, log on to www.haiticlinic.org


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