This is one of those deals where if you want to give money to a group of our own, so they can go out and save lives, here you go. On their website, there is a donation button, and they can use all the help they can get. Their idea is to team up medical folks who can protect themselves, and get them there by overland travel. Thanks to Blackfive for getting the word out and I wish the team all the best. –Matt
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Family/friends,
I’m selfishly contacting you few out of pure necessity right now. I am headed to Port au Prince as part of the Haitian relief effort. Our 5-man advance team (Two Milwaukee firefighters/EMTs, two former Marines, one French/Creole translator) are flying to Santo Domingo this afternoon. We are liaising with Jesuit Brother Jim Boynton there, who Father Reuter from Loyola Med was kind enough to put us in contact with. On Sunday the six of us have bus tickets to Port au Prince, where we will set up a triage area in the courtyard of the the Jesuit mission and assess the security situation in preparation for a follow-on medical team from Chicago. I have been speaking directly with Brother Jim in Haiti and the Jesuits are preparing for our arrival (see email below). They have set aside a courtyard for us at the mission.
We have one problem. Our operation is entirely privately funded, we are running low on cash, and the the logistics of getting our follow-on medical team into Port au Prince are proving difficult. We’ve raised over 17k in two days which has purchased much needed supplies. We’re carrying with us thousands of dollars of burn dressings, gauze, iodine, masks, gloves, pain relievers, water filtration devices, etc, including many thousands in donated items from Chicago hospitals and medical supply companies. However, if we can’t get our main medical body into Port au Prince then our mission is only partially complete. The Jesuits are telling Brother Boynton that they need this medical team NOW.
We are seeking more private funding to pay for the plane tickets of a doctor and his 5 assts (3 nurses, one Army reserve combat medic, and a medical asst.) We need to get them to the airport at Port au Prince, where we will pick them up, and bring them to the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) mission. Brother Jim has advised us that the JRS is a gated mission with its own security and close to the airport. They have a well for fresh water and food provisions, though we are carrying in our own.
The follow-on team is being led by Dr Maurecio Consalter from Masonic. Dr Consalter has kindly secured thousands of dollars in medical supplies/medicine from his friends in the industry. All he needs are plane tickets for his crew right now. His cell phone number is (email badgerdad@gmail.com for number).
Should any of you be willing to help defray the travel cost of Dr Consalter and his crew, or have any questions for myself, I can be reached on my cell at (email badgerdad@gmail.com for number). My flight does not leave until 4 pm EST, so I am available until then. I will have my phone on me in the DomRep and Haiti, and if cell towers are working (and I understand they are), I will receive emails to my BB even in Port au Prince.
Best,
Bill McNulty
PS – Our team has received the expressed written support of both the Ambassador to Haiti and the Embassy of the Dominican Republic. We have been advised to use the attached letters for safe passage through border and security checkpoints. We will update our progress here.