Vertical Magazine

Working with HERO Client Rescue [HERO Ground Truth], HAA transported patients when they could safely land for two days before reinforcements arrived from the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy once the tropical storm passed.

How helicopters played a crucial role in the days following the 2021 Haiti earthquake

BY JEN BOYER | OCTOBER 12, 2021

“We saw a lot of femur and pelvis fractures and head injuries, but after a couple of days we began to see more than trauma,” Oaks said. “There is a very large Voodoo presence in Haiti. We saw a lot of patients who had seen their Voodoo priest who packed their wounds with dirt, leaves, and herbs, which puts them at a higher risk of infection. Others were still being dug out of the rubble several days after the earthquake and were coming in dehydrated with injuries, post-injury infections, and tetanus. These people lived days from a medical clinic and most are not vaccinated against tetanus. For them, we began adding fluids for dehydration, antibiotics, and tetanus treatments.” Read Article