Carol Fipp

An update from Carol Fipp, an aid worker with The Hôpital Sacré Coeur in Milot, Haiti. Fipp wrote to us on Sunday, frustrated with how slowly their waiting hospital was receiving patients from Port-au-Prince.

We received five helicopter deliveries of 12 patients today. We had four U.S. Coast Guard airlifts and one Navy airlift. It's definitely an increase from yesterday, but we can still handle many more. It is an improvement, but the current effort is still inadequate; many more people are stranded in Port-Au-Prince, in dire need of care, and the clock is ticking. Our biggest obstacle is the lack of helicopters. Our surgical teams did 16 procedures today, operating until 11:30 PM tonight, and we have six surgeries scheduled for tomorrow morning. We expect the airlifts to increase, and expect possibly two bus loads of injured from Port-au-Prince — a 75 mile ride, which takes six-eight hours over rough roads.