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As television news continued
to document the devastation
in the capital and the dearth of
emergency medical assistance and
basic surgical care, the CRUDEM
Foundation issued the first of
many post-earthquake press
releases on January 14th: “The
hospital is open, operating and
ready to provide care. We are
in a position to take emergency
cases.” With both trauma surgery
and orthopedic surgery teams on site, the
most severely injured patients could receive
definitive surgical care for their injuries at
this tertiary care facility.
Relief organizations and field hospitals in
Port au Prince overflowed with patients
that needed to be triaged out to quality,
trauma hospitals like Sacré Coeur but
they could not get access to helicopters.
CRUDEM staff and board members
immediately contacted every organization
and person they could from top military
officials and international aid organizations
to members of Congress and even the Oval
Office, but official response efforts were
tragically slow.