This is why I started DirectHelp4Haiti.com

D. starting an iv on an abandoned Haitian girl. And she is still smiling!

The Efforts of Many

Just a quick reflection that none of this could have happened without the efforts of so many. From donors to the team on the ground in Haiti, from the corporate support to the help from schools and churches, and the cooperation of so many NGOs, to the pilots ferrying supplies, to the local people providing shelter and transportation. All of you, I am so proud of all of you for coming together and creating such a network of care and help for the unfortunate people of Haiti.

Update from Haiti 6:30 AM January 29

Update from Haiti 6:30 AM January 29 – the medical team is safe and all is going well. There are 10 people on our Med Team, plus Jay Madhu and Michael Pinson. This photo was taken by Jay and uploaded from Haiti showing the team in action. More are available on flickr by clicking here.

Brad from Bayfront Med delivered a baby boy yesterday. That was a positive sign in light of all the destruction the team has seen. The team is treating 150-200 people a day. 

Amy is teamed with another group’s surgery team and she is doing 7-10 surgeries a day. 

The team reports that they have over 3000 photos and videos between them.

Today the team is packing up and going out about 30 miles to help a Med station with 300+ victims a day and only 3 Med students. The team has enough Meds and supplies to take the Team and go today.

Haiti Medical Team - January 28

Haiti Relief UPDATE:  Medical Team One in Haiti is doing well. They have had very little sleep in the last 48+ hours, but they are all happy to be helping in this tremendous effort being put forth by so many to help so many more. They have seen about 600 patients and performed 7 surgeries the last 2 days. This incredible journey and deeds could not have been possible without everyone's donations, assistance, medical supplies and just the overwhelming response from our community in time of need. Thank you again. 

Here is a photo Dr. G in his special "G" mobile riding through Port au Prince. Dr. G is a Haitian born doctor who practices in St. Petersburg, Florida. He is a key asset on this trip as he is mulit-lingual and fluent in Creole. 

Just got word that Michael and Jay met today's shipment of supplies at the airport and that things are going well. The team has really come together.

Medical Team Update

Here are some photos from Haiti taken Monday and Tuesday by one of the team members Daren. The photo above is inside the University of Miami's tent near the airport. He says this pic does not even begin to convey the situation.

Photo of Daren, Super Paramedic.

Team getting on the plane early in the morning, departing for Haiti.

Port au Prince Airport

Some photos of the Port au Prince Airport, also known as PAP.

The Starfish Story

One person, one effort...huge difference.

Once upon a time there was a man who, as he walked along a beach, came upon thousands of stranded starfish above the tide line and a boy throwing one back into the sea.

The man said to the boy, "Boy, look at how many starfish there are. What difference does it make throwing just one back?"

The boy looked up at the man and simply said, "It makes a difference to the one I threw back."

Even if you cannot help them all you can make a huge difference to a few. Do not let the size of a problem discourage you from throwing back at least one starfish.

Sean.

Already Helping - Jan 25th Update

The medical team landed safely and I received word last night that the team hooked up with supplies and made it safely to the Haiti Gospel Mission site. It is a secure compound with running water and a generator for electricity. (see the satellite photo in previous post) Conditions are sparse but manageable. Team leader Michael Pinson reports that part of the medical team began helping immediately in the University of Miami Surgical tent located at the airport while the others set up base camp at the mission. By 1:00 pm Dr. G (our Haitian born doctor) started seeing patients and had seen over 20 patients by the end of the day. Go team! Everyone was exhausted by the end of the day, but in good spirits.

Michael commented that there is supposed to be a curfew at night in PAP but that nobody follows it with thousands of people in the streets at night.

MORE GOOD NEWS. Also got word today that our second load of supplies made it to PAP successfully and was met by Michael and Jay at the airport at noon. Michael says that things are a bit chaotic and that supply boxes tend to grow feet if they don't have someone watching them. Hope to have pictures by tomorrow.

Working with a great team of pilots in South Florida that are doing an amazing job of getting in and out of Haiti. Thank you again for your amazing efforts.

Map of Medical Team One's Location

Here is a satellite image of the location of Medical Team One. I have received information that they are on the ground safe and sound.


View Larger Map

Just a quick post to say thank you....

I have to say thank you to Michael Pinson and his foundation. Michael and I have been thrown together in some magical way. He is acting as lead for our direct help initiative as part of a conglomeration of NGOs and is presently leading Medical Team One on the ground in PAP as we speak. This video is our late night packing of supplies prior to trucking them to Miami. His resources and links have helped make the airlift of our supplies and people possible. With our partnering, he is now able to put eyes directly on the situation and still have support stateside. You are an awesome man Michael Pinson! The Pinson foundation is truly stepping up and making a direct difference in the lives of the people of Haiti.


Michael Pinson Shows Supplies from Sean Scott on Vimeo.

New Extended Video upload to Vimeo

Haiti Relief Video from Sean Scott on Vimeo.

This is the extended version of the youtube video. Remember my goal is to give you first hand info on the ongoing relief effort.  This was our first flight down to a boarder hospital. Hopefully will have PAP photos and video soon. It is still our goal to go back to Jimaini as soon as possible, but have been having problems getting planes into there. We can piggy back with other flights into PAP. There are no such flights into Bahrona/Jimani.

Team Photo

This is a photo of part of the team. There are twelve team members in all including a native Creole speaking Haitian born doctor arriving today at 7:30 am in PAP. They will be establishing a base camp at a mission compound that is still standing. More supplies will arrive from Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday. Great news... looks like we have a donor willing to get us a generator for our crew. This would be fantastic. On last night's conference call, we believe we have a line on fuel as well. Thank You for taking care of us and letting us be a tool to provide for others less fortunate. Now I am finally going to bed. Your prayers for our team are much appreciated.

Supplies Boxed and Gone to Plane

1200 lbs. of medical supplies and food were boxed and trucked to south Florida last night in my f150.  I love Ford Trucks! What a great push. All supplies went out on two Cessna 310s and landed in PAP at noon. Very, very late night. Hats off to Keith, Belinda and the girls! And to our great pilots. You guys ROCK!

New news just in... looks like we can get US nationals and Haitians with green cards extracted. This is great news as I have been getting requests for help in getting people out. I guess the best relief is to just get the h out of there.

Update (we got airlift for Sunday)

I have to make this fast. Just obtained 1200 pounds of lift capacity for tomorrow morning into Haiti. This is awesome. Will hopefully be able to preposition supplies for team!

Three steps forward...

How to describe yesterday. Strange, very strange... yet another confirmation that I am but a tool to be used to make change happen. Man, what didn't happen. Direct Help 4 Haiti and another group, led by my clone, Michael Pinson, have combined efforts to best utialize our different resources. The end result... Our eight member medical team is leaving on Monday for direct deployment into Port au Prince via Military Air Command 737 charter flight. We also believe to have secured cargo transport abilities. While this sounds good, and it is great, it comes with a downside: We are very very restricted as to time and place, large lead times regarding personnel and supplies. For example, we cannot get any supplies on this flight, only our people. May be able to get some cargo in on Wed. but need a manifest and weight of all supplies, as soon as possible to secure space and need to get them to Miami by Tuesday to get it on plane. Most importantly, “there is no protocol for extraction at this time.” This from the flight coordinator for Military Airlift charter. What this means is that we can get our team in-country, but will have to work out return once we get there. Hopefully this will change soon. Lastly, this flight is into Port au Prince and not Bahrona. I desperately need to get flight capability back to Bahrona to support hospital and doctors in the border town of Jimani. So, for all those people working on securing airlift/jets for me I STILL NEED THEM BIG TIME!

No post yesterday. Just no time and when I finally got home, just too burned to post. Looking at my iphone, could not do this without this amazing device, I just did a quick count of the number of calls for yesterday… 86!  And that’s not counting texts. Oh, and I did a full day clients, spoke for 2 hours to a group of 60 and had to resuscitate a 78 year-old woman who almost died in my seminar. Absolutely crazy. I think that is a lot. So again yesterday was a bit strange.

The Latest... Elation then frustration.

Whew... what a day. Putting out all my energy into finding airlift capacity to Haiti. I hate this... I have the people I have some supplies, I have the destination. But no way of getting there right now. We have some very promising leads. Pray for airplanes. Ups and downs... Had a commitment for a plane, than no, then again, a great lead on three planes and two are a no and a third still unknown. I am currently working on marshaling donated supplies. Thought we had 5 seats on a 737 relief flight leaving tomorrow at 7:00, mobilized one team... ready to go...but government snafu regarding passport numbers and timing shot us down. Arrrg. Frustrating. I need a plane.

Good news... got a great donation of some very good Medical supplies. Thank you.

Currently trying to get confirmation on accessing a MAC (Military Airlift Command) charter for Monday morning departure. We got bumped off tomorrow's flight.

Still need Medical supplies. Hopes and prayers accepted too. :-)

Exhausted.

Did I mention I need a plane to help save lives? And I need it ASAP?

Phase Two and What's Next

We have been there and we have done that. We now have in place a direct supply line and contacts with a hospital in need on the Haitian Border in the town of Jimani called The Good Samaritan Hospital. We can get flight clearance direct to Barhona and then have links to get supplies and medical staff to an identified area of need. We just need airlift capabilities and more medical supplies.

We do not have a plane but are still planning on returning on Sunday to put people and supplies on the ground to help. Think airplane, think airplane, think airplane. If you are a corporation or individual that can manifest a plane let's go to Haiti.

Please if you can help with airlift or medical supplies please, please contact me ASAP. There were over 400 patients at the hospital with more arriving every day. Surgery supplies are in short supply, surgeries are being done without anesthetic, they have an x-ray machine but no film or developer. Bones are being set by feel. Infections that could be easily handled with antibiotics are killing people. Medical staff are pulling 30 hour shifts. There is very little sterile saline to flush ivs with. There is a huge need for nurses and doctors to help relieve those already there.

Individuals can create incredible change in the lives of so many in need. Join us.

Raw Video of the Trip

Eight minutes or so of selected raw video of the trip. No editing because I just don't have the time or luxury. Lots going on. More in the next posts.

Sean.

Sample list of items delivered so far...

Special thanks to all our sponsors/donors both small and large for your direct and immediate response. I will tell you that these items will immediately save lives, ease pain and assist in recovery. Thank you, thank you, thank you. One person can make a difference and you are, have done, and are doing that. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

We are still in need of so many medical supplies. We will be posting a wish list shortly, along with more video and photos from Haiti. Additionally we will be discussing phase 2 including putting personnel on the ground.

Below is a quick sample of some of the Medical supplies delivered yesterday direct to the people in need.

Item	Quantity
Boot cast pedi small	4
Tray, suture ec dyndl1234	45
Plaster specialist 2"x3yd	50
Plaster specialist 3"x3yd	12
Plaster specialist 4"x5yd	12
Plaster specialist 6"	12
Splint finger aluminum 3/4"	24
Collar cervical small	10
collar cervical large	4
splint clavicle med	3
Casting tape delta 5" fg	10
splint primacast 4"	10
splint clavicle large	1
SOL NaCl 500ml 2f7123	54
SOL NaCl 1000ml 2f7124	96
SOL NaCl 1500ml 2f7125	32
SOL water 1500ml 2f7115	32
Aloe Vesta Cleansing Foam	16
Bandage Ace 2"	60
Bandage Ace 3"	80
Bandage Ace 4"	80
Bandage Ace 6"	80
Tube Feed 5fr/41cm 260802	30
Tube Feed 8fr/41cm 260604	30
Packing iodoform 1/2"/5yd	18
Packing Iodoform 1/4"/5yd	8
Packing plain 1/2"/5yd	18
Packing plain 1/4"/5yd	12
Packing plain 1"/5yd	12
Packing plain 2"/5yd	8
Scalpel bd #11	20
Syringe bulb 60cc	50
Tray spinal 21ga/2" 4304c	16
Tray spinal 22/1.5 w/o meter	10
Tray laceration ams8047	14
Soft cast 3" m82103	14
Dress adaptic 3x3 6112	50
Dress abd pad	150
Dress kerlix roll	100
Dress kling gauze 6"	40
Dress Telfa 3" x 8"	200
Dress bioclusive 2" x 3"	200
Dress xeroform 1" x 8"	25
Steri strip 1/4" white	100
Dress tubular 6"	2
Dress tubular 7"	2
Dress veni-gard jr	75
Tape elastikon 4"	12
Casting tape red 2"	6
Casting tape purple 2"	6
Casting tape green 2"	6
Casting tape neon pink 2"	6
Casting tape blue 2"	4
Casting tape red 4"	8
Restraint Wrist adult	25
Restraint wrist ped	25
Pad sanitary 23090-090	25
Gauze IV 7089	210
Gauze 2"x2"	500
Gauze 3"x3"	300
Tape Hypafix 2" x 10yd	6
Basin Bath h360-05	100
Deodorant personal	70
Baby wash head to toe 1oz	50
armboard infant 2x6	100
benzoin swab stick 4"	50
betadine sol swabstick	100
chloraprep one-step 3ml 260400	100
betadine swab aid 40000-020	1000
Betadine ointment 1/32oz	1000
towel absorbent a7550t	100
penlight	24
hibiclens 32oz 57532	12
alchohol wipes	2000
tongue blade jr unsterile	1000
band aid strip 3/4" neon	1200
tape transpore 1/2" 15270	144
tape transpore 2" 15272	24
tape zonas 1" jj5104	72
tape zonas 2" 5106	18
tape zonas 1/2" jj5103	144
Needle 18ga/1.5" 305196	600
Delta net 6"	1
Padding cast spec 6"	12
Delta roll 4" mcmw04	40
Bandage ace dbl length 3"	40
Tourniquet 367203	25
water sterile inj 10ml vial	200
sodium chloride inj 10ml	300
sodium chloride inj 20ml	100
chloroquine phos 500mg 25	1
thermazene 1% 20gm tube	93
amox/3cases pot clav 600-42.9.21 in tote 5 200ml	5
amoxicillin 400mg/5ml 100ml	20
amoxicillin 500mg 100ud	5
ceftriaxone sod 1gm 10vl	10
chloroquine phos 250mg 50	2
cipro 500mg/5ml 100ml	2
ciproflox lact400/200 24x20ml	1
doxycycline hycl 100mg 10x10ud	5
isoniazid 50mg/5ml 473ml	1
doxycycline hycl 100mg 10vl	7
vibramycin 50mg/5ml 480ml	2
xyclocaine 1% 20ml	50
acetaminophen 325mg 100ud	25
1caseibuprofen 100/1intote 5 100x5mlud	3
ibuprofen 100/5 100x10mlud chd	3
ibuprofen 200mg 100ud	5
motrin 100mg/5ml 36x120ml inst	1
polysporin oi 144x.94gmud	10
triple antibiotic 144x1/320zud	10
tylenol 80/.8 36x15 grp inp	5

Hospital Video and Random Thoughts

I am sitting on the plane typing this on my little iPhone, speeding
back to my family with a new appreciation of the blessings we all
share, of the many things we take for granted each minute of our
lives. Clean water, safe housing, abundant food, and medical care
that can fix just about anything just 10 minutes away. We don't just
simply have it good, or evan great, our lives in our community called
the USA is umbelievably, fantastically, over the top wonderful.

I am attaching a short video of the hospital. It consists of two
buildings with a third several hundred yards away mainly for those
recovering and less injured. The two buildings you see here are for
triage, surgery and recovery. The trailers are actually the icu.

The situation is best described as controled chaos. The most amazing
thing is the concentrated effort being put forth by the team of
medical professionals. More on that in another post.

Suffice it to say, there is death all around but hope and caring on a
scale that is off the chart. So many people are being provided
critical help, without which they would simply die. This hospital is
not on the front lines but is the next stop after the front lines.

Everything is in short supply except for the desire to help. Sterile
saline, iv antibiotics, antiseptic, anasthetic all in short supply or
non-existant. Complex orthopedic surgeries for example being performed
sometimes with only a shot of morphine. It is truly like a war zone.

But a war zone without the bullets. Where we were at was incredibly
safe. We saw no indication of any disturbances. In a discussion I had
with a member of the Washington state search and rescue, he confirmed
that there was, in this locale, no safety concerns.

We were very busy during our short visit. I was even pressed into
service to help bring a patient in and too help wih crowd control at
the main entrance. It was all I could do to not leave and stay. But we
were not prepared to stay and had to depart in order to make it back
to Barhona before dark. The airport has no runway lights and closes
at dark.

Unfortunately I do not have many photos to post yet as the rest are on
another camera. Even then. We were so busy discussing the situation
and the facilities I had little time to shoot photos. I will post the
others soon. I need to process everything that happened today.

This will post as soon as i jave cell service on the states. Please
excuse the typos.More in a while.

Sean

Update - trying to get to Jimani on the Haitian Border

Inbound for landing in Barhona

Video from the DR

A quick update from the Barhona, Dom. Rep.

Unloading!

They just opened this airport. We are one of the first planes here.
Everything looking good so far.

Boxes

Supplies in the hold! What a great job the crew did on getting the
plane loaded. Thank you to every one of you. Great team effort!

One last photo of St. Pete

On the plane now

Whew. Everything is loaded and we are taxiing. Destination is Barhona
on the south coast of the Dominican Republic and then on to Jimani on the Haitian border. We have trucks for the
supplies and people. But unfortunately this is supply only. After
speaking with the local doctor there is a route in place and world
health organization contact there. If we can get another flight out it
appears to be a good possibility to put people on the ground.
Conditions though are reported to be very very primative and field
hospital at best. Will be in the air for next two hours. Unsure of
cell or data coverage at destination.

Random Shot of Shots

One of our random box of supplies

Stuffing Insides Too

Cargo hold is full and now we are stuffing the insides!

Loading Video

Early morning loading of the plane with supplies for 7 am takeoff. Great help from all the guys. A huge thank you for making this all go so smooth.

Loading Plane

We have a full plane of supplies. Yes! What a blessing. We even had to
take a few passengers off. At this stage it is a Dr. Hirsch and
myself. Everything else is supplies.

Morning Drive

Enroute to the airport for 7 am departure. Late night. Will need to
finish loading plane.

Two Steps Forward...

Whew... one thing is for sure. Anything you thought you knew was for sure will change. Great news! We postponed take off until tomorrow for the reason of lack of local ground transportation, bad news? Nope. Late this morning we received an incredible donation from a local hospital of over $11,000 dollars of medical supplies, almost literally a ton of supplies. And more great news we got an upgrade. Our wonderful local company who was supplying us with a Falcon 10 has been able to acquire for us a Falcon 50! A much larger and capable plane to carry our supplies. That being said... we still need more supplies, specifically IV kits, suture kits, sterile drapes, and antibiotics, lots of antibiotics. This kind of stuff is not easy for the average person to get your hands on, but if you can or if you know someone that can, let us know ASAP. If you are local we will come get it. We also have a line some antibiotics at a wholesale price, and that's where you can help. Donations are a good way for you to personally make a difference.

Our ground transportation issues has been solved as well. I spoke with our contact doctor in the Dominican and he has procured transportation to the hospital for our supplies. We are also going to get some feel for the actual conditions on the ground in order to determine whether or not it is safe to bring our medical teams in. Safety first.

We have also gotten all the necessary flight clearances to get into the restricted airspace surrounding Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Looks like all systems go for early morning departure tomorrow.

As a last note, if may be possible to evacuate Americans that need extraction. If you know of a connection to accomplish this please email me.

Sean.

One step forward...

Well as they say in every big operation, expect some small setbacks. Today on our way back from purchasing provisions for the team at Bill Jackson's, including water purifiers, tents, and food, we got the bad news that our line on the helicopter had evaporated. Unfortunately for us this broke our chain of delivery and makes the mission much, much, more dangerous. As many of you may know both the Dominican Republic and Haiti can be challenges in the best of times for safety. We are now without a way to get the last 100 miles to where we need to be. Until we can secure a safe transportation link we cannot put the team at risk.

Our new modified plan is to still go tomorrow with wheels up at 10 am with the jet loaded with supplies along with Dr. Hirsch. Doctor Donigal, a local Dominican physician, is trying to arrange ground transport for us. We are also going to try to establish a new transportation link. Stay tuned on the next development.

We are also working on an additional channel as well to get our team and supplies to where they need to be. Keeping our fingers crossed on this.

Additionally, we had an amazing outpouring of support this evening from St. Raphael's Catholic Church. Thank you so much for your support and prayers St. Raphs!

Special thanks to our paypal supporters, your donations went directly to purchasing supplies for the Medical team today and will have a direct impact on the mission and the people of Haiti. Watch for a list of all the supplies as soon as I can get it typed in.

Thank you to Bill Jackson's for giving us a special discount on the supplies, and thank you also to Alysa Tawil for being my wingman today. She was a great help in keep the supply train organized.

Tomorrow's Plans

We are making our first flight tomorrow morning to deliver medical supplies, our first medical personnel and to do a first hand assessment of the situation. We are also planning on making a second flight on Tuesday.

New Team Member

We just added a new person to the relief team... Emily Morgan a health care professional with more than two decades of experience in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Yea Emily. We are still on track with a Monday departure. Still looking for a few more doctors or nurses. Off to round up some supplies. Working on a new revised wish list.

We are also communicating with a local Haitian born physician with local ties and connections within the Caribbean physician community.

And of course thank you to all that are contributing financially. You all rock! Stay tuned. I am blown away with the expressions of support. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Sean.

Newest News and Request

Things are coming together. We have solidified a plan of action and have identified a hospital just over the border in the Dominican Republic that is serving as a receiving facility for the injured. They are ready for us and have given us a list of items that they need. Still in need of doctors and trauma nurses that can come for the week.

Also, the donations that are coming in are unbelievable. Thank you, thank you thank you.

First Post

Today has been a series of ups and downs. Everything is coming together now, support and love is flowing in. The blog is now up thanks to Hani Tawil master web guru and computer genius. Andrea Vigrass is leading the search for medical personnel. This is going slow as the new news of increasing violence is chilling many. Haiti is a dangerous place and getting more dangerous as we wait. Still faith and belief that this is where and what we need to do is crystal clear in my heart. New developments in supplies may be coming from a local hospital. I will tell you all more soon. I am attaching a photo from the NY Times that puts a face on the need to do this.

What we did for Katrina...

To see our past mission of providing help after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 visit Water 4 Life