Blue Ridge Safety and Health Responds to the Needs in Haiti

In August of this year, Blue Ridge Safety and Health sponsored Claudia for a short mission assignment for Samaritan’s Purse in Haiti. The company paid her travel expenses and donated a CPR manikin for training purposes. Samaritan’s Purse helped cover some of the travel expenses and provided food and lodging. The purpose of the trip was to provide First Aid and CPR/AED training for both the ex-patriates and the Haitian staff of Samaritan’s Purse. Here is her story of this moving trip.
I had traveled to Haiti in April to serve as a volunteer nurse for Samaritan’s Purse. My assignment included not only working in the Cholera clinic but also helping in a medical outreach clinic. While there, I came to realize that there were many other volunteers at the Samaritan’s Purse camp who came from various parts of the country to remove rubble, help build shelters, and provide medical care.
While traveling back and forth under the security of a Samaritan’s Purse driver, it also became apparent to me that because of the earthquake, the roads were often difficult to maneuver and further, that the rules of the road were nonexistent translating into frequent and fatal vehicle trauma.
While contemplating the large number of volunteers and the exposure to daily trauma, I felt a real passion to be involved with equipping staff with First Aid and CPR. Not only were there high numbers of traumatic events, but there were many volunteers and staff who had limited access to emergency care so after discussion with Samaritan’s Purse management, I was asked to return and teach First Aid and CPR/AED.
In August, I returned to Haiti to complete this teaching assignment that included both of the camps operated by Samaritan’s Purse. I went with some ideas of what medical resources were available in Haiti but also what limitations existed. Haitians speak both Creole and French but not as much English. So, after development of my lessons designed especially for the situation, staff at Samaritans’ Purse and one of my Haitian friends, translated the entire learning materials into Creole.
The previous experience provided me a solid plan on what areas of First Aid that needed more emphasis. Twelve classes of First Aid and CPR/AED were organized that included over one hundred and fifty people. The First Aid course was modified to include rapid trauma assessment and triage management. Both camps had an Automatic External Defibrillator so my goal was to put them into a response plan in which a core group of staff were trained in sudden cardiac arrest and use of the AED and the rest of the camp were taught Hands Only CPR until the AED arrived.
I was assisted in some of the training by two other registered nurses that were on temporary assignment in Haiti. All students expressed gratitude for the classes but the best compliment that was given to me was by a student who solemnly vowed that before his training, he ran from an emergency, now he would run to the emergency.
According to the website: http://www.Samaritansourse.org : “Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ.”