Medical Teams from Rush University Medical Center Travel to Haiti to Help Earthquake Victims

Rush University Medical Center is organizing a number of volunteers to go to Haiti to treat earthquake victims. The first group of 20 medical professionals left Monday, January 25, and will return on February 3. A second team of seven doctors and nurses left on January 29 and will return February 12.

The roster includes internists, pediatricians, nurses and specialists in emergency medicine, plastic surgery, cardiology, critical care medicine, orthopedics, pediatric orthopedics and anesthesiology.

The first team of 20 doctors and nurses that departed from Rush on January 25 are now treating patients in the Delmas neighborhood of Port Au Prince. They are being lodged on the campus of the Quisqueya Christan School, an elementary school that is serving as a medical coordination center. The team is being sent to a variety of neighborhood clinics and hospitals where they can provide the most assistance.

"We are exhausted, but I can say it was one of the most satisfying days of work I have experienced.  The Haitian people are very warm and are very grateful for our help.  We are safe and exhausted, but feel good about what we accomplished today," said  Dr. Keith Boyd, associate chair of pediatrics at Rush.

Among the first group to head to Port-au-Prince is internal medicine physician Dr. Myriame Casimir, a native of Haiti.

"The minute I found out what had happened in Haiti, I knew I had to go back home to help out. I am lucky that my family back home was not harmed in the earthquake, but so many Haitians are in need," said Casimir. "On a personal and professional level, I was determined to go back to Haiti."

The second team is comprised of medical professionals from Rush and other local hospitals. This missions is cooordinated by the International Medical Corps, a non-governmental organization founded by Dr. Robert Simon.

Among this group is Dr. Joel Augustin, a family practice physician at Rush, who grew up in Haiti and earned his M.D. from the State University Medical School in Haiti. This team is being led by Dr. Jamil Bayram, an emergency medicine physician and chair of the Emergency Preparedness Committee at Rush.

The International Medical Corps is working throughout Port-au-Prince, including the Hôpital de l'Université d'État d'Haiti (State University Medical School in Haiti), the largest hospital in the city. Doctors and nurses are performing 30-50 surgeries daily and treating more than 1,000 patients a day across all its facilities – hospital, static clinics and mobile clinics. Beyond the capital, the organization's mobile medical teams are providing medical care and delivering supplies in underserved areas.

More Information at Your Fingertips:

Follow the team's progress on the Rush News Blog.
Read the complete news release.