Day 3

Smoke billows over the city nightly. Our guess is that it's trash burning, and it gives the skyline a war-zone aura. It's trash now...it was buildings. And bodies.

I'm learning that Haiti is a country of dichotomies. Every morning, a marching band raises the Haitian flag on the grounds of the presidential palace as the many people in the nearby tent city watch. Though there is no sewage system or electricity in the tent cities, last night I watched a lone garbage truck making its rounds through the streets.

We transported two patients today. One went to the ED with a rigid abdomen while another patient needed transport to University of Miami for an ortho consult on an ankle fracture. CIMO drives the ambulance for us, and we run emergent everywhere. With the heavy congestion on the roads however, it does little to help.

Working in the clinic, we've gotten a crash course on antibiotics and common infections from our peds ER doc. The patient population we are seeing is about 75% pediatric, so it's a helpful session.

The strength and compassion of the Haitians we work with continues to impress, and in an effort to equal them, TJ and I are going to try and work a 36 hour shift tomorrow, covering the night shift at the emergency department (we hear they are understaffed at night).

On a side note, our tent really stinks. I think we really stink. As hot as it is on the roof, Evans says it's too cold for him to sleep up there. I guess our living arrangements are for the best.