Volunteer Recalls Haitian Healthcare in 1995

This week I have been reminded about how blessed we are in the United States. In looking at the scenes of devastation in Haiti, the poorest nation in the southern hemisphere, I am thankful for the lifestyle afforded to me in the United States. In 1995, I was a volunteer healthcare worker in Cape Haitian, Haiti and witnessed first-hand the lack of medical care available to the people of that country. The clinical and hospital facilities were void of supplies and had basic equipment. At the local hospital, the autoclave (a system that sterilizes surgical instruments) was from the 1940s (wow!) and the X-ray system was a U.S. military system used in the Korean War. Now, in this time of great suffering I wonder how the medical infrastructure is going to be able to assist everyone in need. I worry for the friends I made when I was in Haiti and the American Medical Staff that is still working diligently to assist these people. I am pleased to see medical missions and supplies are finally getting to the people in Port-au-Prince and I hope that the city can rebuild. In this time of insurance legislation and debates about medical care in the United States I feel we can all learn a lot from examining the medical care in countries like Haiti and take time to step back and truly be thankful for our medical systems--they are not perfect but they are (really) the best anywhere.

- Melinda Dobbs, Manager of Radiology at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston