# CAN Mission in Haiti (ops, medals, etc) - merged



## 2chicken (17 Apr 2007)

Hi there, I read other discussion on this already and sounds like there will not be a mission specific medal given to the soldiers deployed in Haiti in 2004. I don't need a discussion on this, i would just appreciate it if there is someone out there who can justify it. Right now I'm trying to do it and i can't; Right now they are saying you could 've gone to Bosnia as a canteen queen get re pat on the 31st day there for whatever reason and get a medal but you go to Haiti on a moments notice told the mission will be anywhere between 14 to 180 days(and that's o.k that's my job) conduct day and night "cordon and search" couldn't use the R word... there is believe it or not stress involved when searching someones home for weapons, and I'll stop there cause i definitely don't think that our work there need to be justified in any ways it was a chapter VII mission enough said. Some will say another guy crying for a medal, yes absolutely, for me going over seas on operation is not about the money (although it helps) its about pride, pride for myself every times i get to wear my uniform, but more for my family its (medal) the only thing that we have left to show for the sacrifice we do for our country, yet it turns around and seems to say we are sorry we know you received the CPSM 5 x over but that's the only thing coming. COME ON. Soldiers like medals if they say they don't care for medals the chances are they are lying, If its becoming hard to afford decorating a soldier for the commitment and sacrifice he or she and the families are making, then perhaps its time to stop deploying them. Still hoping that the CO will not forget this issue and those who worked for him. serious replies please.


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## PO2FinClk (18 Apr 2007)

2chicken said:
			
		

> Hi there, I read other discussion on this already and sounds like there will not be a mission specific medal given to the soldiers deployed in Haiti in 2004. I don't need a discussion on this, i would just appreciate it if there is someone out there who can justify it.


Well thats news to me, after all that's what I thought the MINUSTAH (UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti) Medal was for?


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## medicineman (18 Apr 2007)

Even those of us there for the whole tour were inelligible for the MINUSTAH medal because the last of us left 14 days short of the minimum time in country required from when the mandate was put in place.  The people that went over for the front end only (India Coy Group) got perhaps their CPSM if they didn't already have it - likewise with Hotel Coy and anyone in the NSE/NCE where this was their cherry tour.

MM


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## NavyGunnerRTD (11 Mar 2008)

I have a question that can't seem to be answered without writiing a letter to DH&R.

I was presented a CPSM for Operation Forward Action off the coast of Haiti in 1994. I read on the website that this Operation does not now fall under the guidelines of a Peace Keeping mission and has been dropped from the eligibility list.

I also now see that there is a UN Medal for Haiti and the eligibility criteria is: Awarded for 90 days consecutive service between 1 June 2004 to the present.

Now it doesn't specify if this is land based only or if the ships involved are also qualifiers. Does anyone here have any input on this? I have been retired for 3 years now and would like to make sure I have the proper medal. Do I send my CPSM back to "trade in" for the UN medal or do I have an option here?

Thanks  :cdnsalute:


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## Michael OLeary (11 Mar 2008)

Were you on Operation MINUSTAH?

http://www.dnd.ca/hr/cfpn/engraph/1_06/1_06_admhrmil_minustah-medal_e.asp



> UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti medal
> 
> UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) medalFrom the Assistant Deputy Minister (Human Resources – Military) [ADM(HR-Mil)]
> 
> ...


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## NavyGunnerRTD (11 Mar 2008)

We were part of the embargo against Haiti in the summer of 94. I don't know if it was part of MINUSTAH or not, it was called Op FWD Action.


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## Michael OLeary (11 Mar 2008)

This:



			
				NavyGunnerRTD said:
			
		

> *We were part of the embargo against Haiti in the summer of 94.* I don't know if it was part of MINUSTAH or not, it was called Op FWD Action.



doesn't meet the criteria here:



> If you contributed 90 days of honourable service to the United Nations (UN) Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) *beginning in June 2004*, you may now accept and wear the MINUSTAH medal.


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## Monsoon (11 Mar 2008)

I checked the CPSM eligible missions list and found:


UNMIH [UN Mission in Haiti] (29 September 1993 - 30 June 1996)

...which is the mission FORWARD ACTION was in support of. It being a deployment through NATO, you should also have gotten the SSM with NATO bar in lieu of the UNMIH medal.


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## George Wallace (11 Mar 2008)

OK.  It was driving me nuts so I have corrected the spelling in the title from "UM MEdal for Haiti" to "UN Medal......"


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## Yrys (11 Mar 2008)

George Wallace said:
			
		

> OK.  It was driving me nuts so I have corrected the spelling in the title from "UM MEdal for Haiti" to "UN Medal......"



Thanks!  It's confused me...


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## medicineman (12 Mar 2008)

MINUSTAH was a spinoff of the MIF mission that started in Mar 04 and continues to this day.  It was originally a NEO Op that turned into something completely different (I think the final count of extensions was 4), with the UN assuming control from MIF in Jun 04.  It was an Army op with an Air Force contingent for our air bridge - no ships.  I'd look into the medal that was awarded to the UN forces that were in place in the early/mid 90's - a different op and therefore a different mission and medal.

Cheers.

PS - Those of us on the original Op Halo (MIF/MINUSTAH) only got the CPSM (if you didn't already have one) and those of us that were there to the end were 14 days short of the MINUSTAH medal.  I think I got a certificate and a nice tan...  .

MM


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## PO2FinClk (13 Mar 2008)

hamiltongs said:
			
		

> I checked the CPSM eligible missions list and found:
> 
> 
> UNMIH [UN Mission in Haiti] (29 September 1993 - 30 June 1996)
> ...


To add to the SSM Eligibility List:

HMCS ANNAPOLIS 27-Mar-94 20-Apr-94 OP FORWARD ACTION (SSM PEACE BAR) 50 
HMCS FRASER 17-Oct-93 17-Dec-93 OP FORWARD ACTION (SSM PEACE BAR) 124 Days
HMCS FRASER 12-Jan-94 27-Mar-94 OP FORWARD ACTION (SSM PEACE BAR) 150 Days
HMCS GATINEAU 17-Oct-93 17-Nov-93 OP FORWARD ACTION (SSM PEACE BAR) 64 Days
HMCS KOOTENAY 13-Jul-94 12-Sep-94 OP FORWARD ACTION (SM PEACE BAR) 124 Days
HMCS PRESERVER 17-Oct-93 17-Nov-93 OP FORWARD ACTION (SSM PEACE BAR) 64 Days
HMCS PROVIDER 17-Dec-93 12-Jan-94 OP FORWARD ACTION (SSM PEACE BAR) 54 Days
HMCS TERRA NOVA 07-Sep-94 17-Oct-94 OP FORWARD ACTION (SSM PEACE BAR) 82 Days
HMCS TERRA NOVA 28-Apr-94 13-Jul-94 OP FORWARD ACTION (SSM PEACE BAR) 154 Days
HMCS VILLE DE QUEBEC 20-Apr-94 28-Apr-94 OP FORWARD ACTION (SSM PEACE BAR) 18 Days

And also


			
				UN Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) Medal said:
			
		

> - *UNMIH* was succeeded in July 1996 by the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH). Its mandate expired on 31 July 1997. The Security Council established the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH) 28 June 1996. In setting up UNSMIH, the Council underlined the need to support the commitment of the Government of Haiti to maintain the secure and stable environment established by the Multinational Force in Haiti.
> 
> - *UNTMIH* was the third in the series of UN Peacekeeping Operations in Haiti. It was established the 30 July 1997 for a single four-month period ending on 30 November 1997. It was established to assist the Government of Haiti by supporting and contributing to the professionalization of the Haitian National Police (HNP).
> 
> ...


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## NavyGunnerRTD (13 Mar 2008)

Yrys said:
			
		

> Thanks!  It's confused me...



LOL ok thanks


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## NCRCrow (13 Mar 2008)

I have a question and its based on a peers procrastinating nature in applying for a medal.

Prior to the CPSM crit being amended. OP SHARP GUARD had met the criteria and we had a big medals parade back in 2000.

My friend had been posted off and did not receive his medal, even though he was on tour with us. He went to apply this year on my insistence only to be found that SHARP GUARD, no longer met the amended criteria.

Is he SOL? or am I missing something in giving him this advice.

Crow


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## PO2FinClk (13 Mar 2008)

HFXCrow said:
			
		

> Is he SOL? or am I missing something in giving him this advice.


He may be, but the only to find out in this case is to submit a request in writing through the chain to DH&R for consideration.


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## old medic (22 Jan 2010)

Field hospital gets its orders
By SEAN CHASE
Pembroke Daily Observer
http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2268818


Petawawa's involvement in Canada's rescue mission to earthquake stricken Haiti escalated Tuesday as the 1st Canadian Field Hospital received orders to deploy to the devastated island nation.

The unit will be sending some 100 surgeons, nurses and medics, with the first group leaving as soon as this weekend, to join Operation HESTIA, the Canadian rescue and humanitarian assistance mission in Haiti.

The base is already dispatching 88 soldiers with the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) as the security situation in Haiti deteriorates one week after the 7.0 magnitude quake, which has likely killed tens of thousands.

"The nations of the world are descending on Haiti and are trying to bring order out of that chaos," Lt.-Col. Dyrald Cross, 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group chief of staff, told a briefing for families and soldiers at the base following the announcement of the impending deployment.

Most of the 200-member DART company, which is commanded by Maj. Paul Payne, of the 2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (2RCHA), is already on the ground providing security to the Canadian embassy in Port-au-Prince and a Belgian field hospital, while continuing to assist in search and rescue efforts and delivering food, water and supplies.

The Canadian mission will focus on Jacmel, a town of 80,000 about 25 kilometres south west of the capital.

The community has an airstrip where a Canadian Hercules has already landed successfully.

"That will be the centre of our Canadian area of operations," said Lt.-Col. Cross. "Canada is responsible for a chunk of ground and will have the responsibility to aid the people in that chunk of ground."

Once personnel and resources are on the island, the 1st Canadian Field Hospital will be equipped with a hospital complete with intensive care unit and 40 to 50 beds.

It will be manned by two surgical teams each complete with a general surgeon and orthopedic surgeon, operating room nurses and technicians.

Maj. Patrick Brizay, who will be commanding the field hospital in Haiti, said the unit will be ready for all possible medical contingencies.

The unit currently has most of its regular members deployed so it required considerable augmentation from bases across Canada.

In the last few days, those augmentees have been arriving in Petawawa.

"When we got the call to ramp up the mission, the people wanted to contribute and the units stepped up," said Maj. Brizay. "It's pretty amazing."

The hospital will be centrally located with teams of medics being sent to communities within the Canadian area of responsibility.

Military surgeons expect to provide care and relief for severe medical cases such as patients suffering orthopedic injuries from collapsed buildings or other injuries that may require amputations.

They anticipate patients will also suffer from chronic illnesses, infections and dehydration. Lt.-Col. Chris Berger, a military anesthesiologist, said it will be unlike the situation Canadian medics have faced in Afghanistan.

"We' re looking at a less intensive situation but with equally debilitating injuries and a higher volume of patients," said Lt.-Col. Berger.

Lt.-Col. Cross later provided some insight into the chain of events which led to Petawawa's rapid deployment of the DART. While in Fort Irwin, California, where 2,000 local troops are training for Afghanistan, the commanding officer received a warning order last Tuesday around 10:30 p.m. to prepare the DART.

The first member of the DART was on a flight bound for Haiti by 6 a.m. the next morning.

DART personnel from Petawawa include medics from 2 Field Ambulance and the field hospital, force protection soldiers from the 1st and 3rd Battalions, Royal Canadian Regiment and the Royal Canadian Dragoons, and a headquarters from 2RCHA.

The brigade is involved in all four major Canadian Forces operations at the moment. While local soldiers are in California and on the Haiti mission, there is a reconnaissance squadron currently in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

In addition, they are preparing to send troops to provide security at the Vancouver Olympics and the G-8/G-20 Summit.

"It's a significant undertaking," Lt.-Col. Cross added. "I don't think any other base can say that."

Petawawa troops could be in Haiti for up to 60 days, however, Lt.-Col. Cross remarked the length of the deployment will be decided by the federal government. 







Mobile hospital ready to deploy to Haiti
By SEAN CHASE, QMI Agency
22 January 2010
http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/haiti/2010/01/22/12576511.html


CFB PETAWAWA, Ont. - The 1st Canadian Field Hospital is awaiting the final word before deploying to Haiti, to assist with medical relief efforts still desperately needed in the quake-ravaged country.

After Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced Thursday the medical unit will be made available to set up operations in Leogane, a costal community 29 kilometres west of Port-au-Prince, where 90% of the buildings were destroyed, the unit was put on four-hour standby at the base.

On Friday, the field hospital's 112 doctors, nurses, specialists and medics were packing the last of their supplies, preparing to ship out as early as that evening.

The unit already has a two-man advance team in Leogane conducting a reconnaissance of the area.

"We're desperately needed there," said Deputy Commanding Officer Maj. Patrick Brizay, who will be leading the field hospital in Haiti.

The deployed hospital will include an operating room with two surgical teams, two resuscitation beds, two critical-care beds and 100 immediate and minimum-care beds. It will be powered by its own generators, and will have laboratory and diagnostic-imaging capabilities.

The unit will also come with two ambulances.

"Once we're on the ground, we're configured to receive casualties and treat people right away," said Maj. Brizay, adding it will take one day to completely set up the facility, partially constructed out of tents and metal sea containers. "We can do anything a regular hospital can do, except we're under a tent."

The population in Leogane and the surrounding region prior to the Jan. 12 quake was about 200,000. However, relief organizations and the United Nations have estimated the death toll just in this area could be between 20,000 and 30,000. Food and supplies have taken longer to reach Leogane because the main roads were wiped out, a factor Maj. Brizay added may delay their move into the city.

"They don't have anything standing," he explained. "Even if they have the doctors or nurses the hospitals are flattened."

This is the first time the field hospital has deployed as a unit since the 1991 Gulf War. For many of its members, this will be their first disaster assistance operation.

"We're kind of anxious," said Cpl. Stephanie Shaw, a medical technician who has been to Afghanistan twice. "We're trying to think ahead, plan and make sure we have everything."

Surgeons expect to deal with severe medical cases, such as patients with severely broke bones, crushed by collapsed buildings. Many of those injuries, festering since the quake, now require amputations.

"People are suffering so we're looking forward to doing our part to help," said Sgt. Simon Charlebois, a veteran of Bosnia and Afghanistan.

As a lab technician, Sgt. Charlebois will be assisting the physicians in diagnosing ailments and selecting the appropriate treatments. He'll also prepare blood transfusions and monitor patients for side effects.

Able Seaman Greg Cornect, a medical technician, said he was excited about heading out on his first deployment anywhere. While his job will be to assist the nurses in the Intensive Care ward, the sailor said he hopes to help as many of the Haitian people as he can.

"They're devastated by this earthquake," said Able Seaman Cornect. "They're going through the trial of a lifetime."

The base has already sent 88 soldiers with the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) as part of Operation HESTIA, the Canadian humanitarian response in Haiti. A total of 2,000 Canadian Forces personnel have been committed to the rescue mission.

Petawawa troops could be in Haiti for up to 60 days, however the federal government will make the final decision as to the length of their stay.



A-Channel Report on Youtube;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyYWSZnU9LA


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## medicineman (22 Jan 2010)

To all I know, hope they have a good go - one young guy was sent from here in Vic, and I know more than a few of the others on the way.

MM


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## old medic (27 Jan 2010)

DART produces clean drinking water for Haitians
CTV.ca News Staff
26 Jan 2010
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100126/haiti_aid_100126/20100126?hub=TopStoriesV2

Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team was able to start producing much-needed drinking water in Haiti Tuesday, two weeks after a massive earthquake caused widespread destruction.

The team was forced to filter salt water from the Caribbean Sea because river waters are too polluted, resulting in a process that takes twice as long as normal.

Maj. Earl Maher, an engineer with DART, said a crew has been working 20-hour days to get the water purification system working.

There is some water in Haiti "but it's been tested and it is just not anywhere near a drinking standard," Maher told The Canadian Press.

About 5,000 litres of drinking water were sent to Jacmel, a city outside Port-au-Prince.

However, the problem is now a distribution one, something that has plagued aid in Haiti.

"As long as we can get trucks to come in and take it and deliver it to people they will have fresh water to drink," said Maher.

Haitians are still in dire need of food and shelter, according to the UN’s humanitarian relief co-ordinator.

John Holmes said he’s frustrated that aid has so failed to reach everyone in need.

“We are still struggling to get as much aid out to people on the streets, not only in Port-au-Prince but in the cities around there, as we would like,” Holmes told CTV News Channel on Tuesday.

“We certainly haven’t reached everybody with everything they need, and we’re still quite a long way away from that. That’s frustrating for us, but everybody is doing everything they possibly can, straining every nerve to make it happen.”

While the UN’s World Food Program has been able to distribute some food to survivors, the agency is appealing for tens of millions of ready-to-eat meals until supply routes can be cleared to better dispense rice, vegetables and oil.

And while the Haitian government has appealed for 200,000 tents to house those displaced by the quake, Holmes estimates as many as one million people are now homeless, and that many tents are required before the rainy season begins in the spring.

Holmes said he believes his agency has the right mechanisms in place to distribute aid. But until everyone has enough food, water, shelter, as well as the medical care they require, “of course we can’t be satisfied.”

The global agency supplying tents, the International Organization for Migration, said Tuesday it had 10,000 tents stored in Haiti and at least 30,000 more on the way.

Haitian President Rene Preval has appealed for hundreds of thousands of tents and, in a show of solidarity with the quake’s victims, said he plans to move into a tent on the grounds of his former home, the National Palace, which crumbled during the quake.

UN peacekeeping forces have cleared five hectares north of Port-au-Prince and plan to establish a half-dozen other sites that will serve as tent cities, to be set up before the rainy season begins in April.

Col. Delcio Monteiro Sapper, a Brazilian army engineer serving with the UN force, said the Interamerican Development Bank plans to clear 100 hectares of government-owned land to house upwards of 100,000 people.

Canadians providing medical aid

As the UN makes headway in its relief efforts, Canadian Forces personnel have established a solid foothold in Haiti by offering direct medical assistance to those who need it, just one week after arriving in the devastated nation.

Capt. Art McDonald, Task Group Commander of Operation HESTIA which includes HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Halifax, said the crews have set up hospitals and provided frontline medical assistance in the aftermath of the powerful quake.

"There's much more to be done but we have over 1,400 soldiers, sailors and airmen on the ground here in Haiti and we're working together jointly, working very well to make a difference as one taskforce to save lives and mitigate human suffering," McDonald told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday.

The 500 sailors aboard the two ships are working with members of Canada's DART, soldiers and Air Force personnel and medical staff.

The sailors' efforts have focused on Jacmel and Leogane, two cities outside the capital Port-au-Prince which were hard hit by the quake.

"Medical assistance is something that was identified even by the Haitian prime minister as very important in these two areas and from our arrival that has been a focus of Canadian efforts," McDonald said.

He said the crews have made great strides since their arrival about a week ago. At that time the main challenges were logistical, such as where to moor the ships and how equipment and aid would be delivered to the hardest-hit areas.

Now many of those initial challenges have been overcome and the focus is on delivering medical aid.

In Jacmel, the crew of HMCS Halifax has worked with DART to establish two hospitals -- facilities McDonald said have made a major difference to the injured survivors of the quake.

"And now we assess the medical situation to be stable in Jacmel," he said.

In Leogane, sailors from HMCS Athabaskan are working with Quebec's Royal 22nd Regiment, or Van Doos regiment. Much of their work has been in concert with a non-governmental Canadian medical assistance team.

"They estimate that when our teams are providing security, personnel control, processing, general labour and support we're able to double the capacity of what the doctors bring to the ground."

The teams are also working to bring a Canadian field hospital into operation by Tuesday or Wednesday, which is expected to have surgical capabilities by Thursday, McDonald said.


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## old medic (27 Jan 2010)

For medics in Haiti everything is in short supply — except the wounded
By Jorge Barrera, Canwest News Service
January 17, 2010
http://www.canada.com/news/world/medics+everything+short+supply+except+wounded/2450897/story.html

The injured continued to arrive at the gates to the field hospital Saturday in front of the Laboratoire National de Sante Public in Port Au Prince where Canadian Forces medical personnel tried to mend broken bodies with cardboard.

Facing limited supplies and an endless need, Canadian military personnel were forced to reuse latex gloves and resort to cardboard ripped from supply boxes for splints, said Cpl. Alexander Robitaille, a medic with the Canadian Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART).

“We use what we have. We don’t have a lot of supplies. That is why we use cardboard. It works, it is stable,” said Robitaille, after a day mending bodies. “We just try to use less things ... we are waiting for more (supplies).”

Robitaille said he did not know when additional medical material would arrive.

The team was working out of two field hospital tents with their patients laying on stretchers at one end, and the operating room at the other.

A young girl whose foot was amputated was carried out by her father, and a young woman with an amputated arm was helped through the gates by two women late Saturday afternoon. A baby was also delivered Saturday at the Belgian-run field hospital.

Medical staff often have to turn to amputation because wounds are infected beyond healing, some crawling with maggots, said Robitaille.

“Some people have been caught in the rubble for three four days, so they couldn’t move, they couldn’t do anything to clean it,” he said.

The Belgian doctors perform the amputations.

On Friday, the Canadian medical crew treated 42 patients.

But the mended faced a high chance of aggravating their wounds from infection and failure to take their medication, said Robitaille. Those whose legs are put into cardboard splints often don’t have crutches or wheelchairs to allow for the rest needed to mend broken bones, he said. Many also cannot read and could forget the instructions for their medicine.

Across the street a makeshift city has sprung up and those that live there often go to the field hospital for help.

“It is not really clean there and it has all the things for infections and disease,” said Robitaille, who is on his first deployment and landed Wednesday with the DART reconnaissance team.

“It is a drop in the bucket,” said Master Cpl. Richard Robichaud, also with the medical team. “I would rather have a drop in the bucket, than the bucket empty.”

Robichaud said one man gave them “two thumbs up” after they mended his leg the day before.

Outside the gates Saturday, a crowd of Haitians gathered, some pleading to get in. Others just watched.

Dave Coffie, 12, had been waiting for two days to get into the field hospital for treatment for a broken lower leg, said his father Prinston Coffie, 46.

“A block of cement fell on his leg,” said the elder Coffie. “My son is my life, my life is broken.”

Moments after he uttered those words, the gates opened and his son was taken into the field hospital.

Next door, at Hospital de la Paix, it was chaos. Patients lay outdoors, in the hallways, flies landing on their exposed limbs, rags used as bandages soaked with blood. The smell of rotting flesh soiled the air.

Handwritten notes outlining their ailments were taped to the metal frames of some of their beds.

Iva Juan-Batista, 18, couldn’t stop crying as she held her two-year-old son whose nose had been broken when Tuesday’s earthquake destroyed their house.

He was being held by his paternal grandmother when the earth shook. The grandmother died. So did the boy’s father, Ricardo Regulier, 26.

“I am so very sad, I am so sad. I am depressed,” said Juan-Batista. “I have no help.”

She began to weep again, holding her son.

Dr. Mark Edwin Casseus, whose aunt lives in Montreal, said he had been working non-stop since Tuesday when he started at 6 p.m. and treated the wounded until 6 a.m. the next day with nine other doctors.

“It was horrible,” said Casseus. “There was only 10 of us, it was horrible — 400 people, open fractures, crushing trauma.”

He said they lack gauzes, IV bags, antibiotics, an X-ray machine and a functioning operating room.

“We manage to get by, but it’s not adequate,” said Casseus.

Medical teams from Spain, Chile and Cuba, however, were beginning to take charge of the hospital Saturday, first by separating patients by severity and limiting the number of family members allowed inside.

They were also bringing in medical supplies and commencing operations, said Hediberto Perez, with the Chilean medical team.

Order also returned to the front gates of the Canadian embassy where Canadian citizens seeking to flee Haiti had gathered, clamouring to get through the gates.

Canadian soldiers stepped in Friday to organize the lines, easing the processing by embassy staff.

Another load of 40 Canadians were put on an aircraft Saturday morning, bringing the total of evacuated to about 550 people, the military said.

==============================================================

Canada's medical relief team gets to work
By Jorge Barrera, Canwest News Service
19 January 2010
Copy at: http://www.theprovince.com/health/Canada+medical+relief+team+gets+work/2458017/story.html

Medics and doctors from Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team landed in Haiti's coastal city of Jacmel Monday and immediately began healing broken bodies.

They treated patients under tarps outside a local hospital, damaged by the earthquake, where local doctors were doing their best to heal the badly wounded despite acute shortages.

"They have no surgery capability right now and that is the major problem," said Maj. Annie Bouchard, DART medical platoon commander. "Their anesthesia machine is broken and they have no supplies."

Bouchard said half of the 64 patients needed surgery to "either save their limb or save their life."

Jacmel, which sits south of Port-au-Prince, is the focus of Canada's efforts in Haiti.

"It's clear there is a need here for potable water and medical and construction equipment," said Col. Bruce Ewing, DART commander. "It's a perfect set up for the DART."

Ewing said that DART plans to set up a medical clinic that will be able to treat 250 people a day and there are plans to also provide care in the surrounding areas through mobile medical units.

"It's terrible for a lot of people, a lot of people lost their homes," said Colette Chandler, a local woman who said she was a cousin of Governor General Michaelle Jean, whose family lived in Jacmel.

Ewing said the area was at the top of the list for Canadian deployment shortly after the first reconnaissance team landed.

"No one else appeared to be thinking about coming," he said.

HMCS Halifax is expected Tuesday to arrive off Jacmel's coast and will provide some 50 sailors.

Ewing said 60 DART members were on the ground Monday, including 25 medics and "four or five" doctors, the rest are security forces.

The team, however, faces major logistical challenges as the roads remain blocked and the port is damaged, meaning the navy will have to come ashore in smaller boats.

The UN is also currently on the ground along with Colombian and Brazilian search-and-rescue teams.

The local Haitian police have since abandoned their posts and local government is non-existent.

A UN force from Sri Lanka is also currently deployed in Jacmel, where an estimated 84,000 people are homeless.
..........
article continued at link above. 

==============================================================

Canadian medics bring hope
Aid station a symbol to Haitians 
By THANE BURNETT, QMI Agency
26 Jan 2010
link : http://www.torontosun.com/news/haiti/2010/01/26/12615966.html

As world powers met in Montreal on Monday to help Haiti survive a hard future, Canadian medics in this port town were dealing with lines of suffering that grow longer each day.

Canadian soldiers and sailors, aided by their air force peers flying above, have built a small medical aid station on the docks. To the people of Jacmel, it has come to symbolize a line of hope, between the disaster and the sea.

Last Saturday, 60 patients made their way to the guarded gate.

On Sunday, the number was 140.

As Canadian sailors from HMCS Halifax help clear routes in the town, the wounded and the sore arrive on foot.

The survivors of the magnitude 7 earthquake that claimed as many as 200,000 people hold ripped cloth over festering wounds or try to comfort feverish babies under a hot sun.

The Canadians have also helped to secure aid drops, a process that was near calamity, locals explain, before the military showed up.

Maj. Annie Bouchard, the medical platoon commander with Canada's Disaster Response Team (DART), told QMI Agency on Monday that word is spreading high into the nearby hills, that the Canadians are offering aid and comfort.

Nursing a broken right hand from a fall on shattered ground, Dr. Bouchard added the line at the gate has often been packed with sick and frail children.

As she spoke, behind her in one of the tents, Canadian navy medic Jennifer MacDonald checked the tender belly of a little girl who had been vomiting.

It's the able seaman's first foreign deployment.

"The people are appreciative -- they're just looking for any help at all," said the Petawawa, Ont.-based sailor.

The child she checked stayed perfectly still. Quality medical care has long been scarce around Jacmel. Even the children seem to appreciate this fact.

Marie Chelan nudged to the front of the line, hoping to have her feverish three-month-old son, John, checked out. She and the child have been sleeping on the street with no coverings since the earthquake.

"Where else could I take him but here?" she asked.

Nearby, there's a box of toys -- trucks and dolls handed out for sudden wonderment.

But it's not just the young the Canadians treat gingerly.

On Monday, Leris Adonis made his way, with one leg, to the medical outpost.

He lost the leg before the quake. That's not what was bothering the 90-year-old Haitian -- an age he only guesses at since his birth certificate was lost long ago.

Instead he explained: "I'm just angry all the time, and I can't eat.

"Not since the earthquake."

The Canadians took time with him, before sending him off with some pills for other ailments.

"I'm glad I came," Adonis said as he walked up the street. "I only feel a little angry now."

This week, the dominion watched over by the Canadians is expected to grow.

DART officials plan to start chopper flights, to check on more remote mountain communities.

Rather than waiting for them to come down to show up at the medic station, a dose of hope may finally come to them.


----------



## old medic (28 Jan 2010)

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/755843

This Haitian town is singing Canada's praise
Disaster response team's emotions run high as grateful Haitians turn out to thank them

Brett Popplewell 
Staff Reporter

JACMEL, HAITI–Members of Canada's elite Disaster Assistance Response Team brushed tears from their cheeks Monday after more than 100 people from this town descended on the team's seaside field hospital to give thanks to the Canadians for their help in treating their wounded.

"It's overwhelming," said 30-year-old Cpl. Cheryl Belanger, a medical technician and member of DART who hails from Ottawa.

"To work all day long with people in need and then to end it with them coming out to thank us by singing in the street, it takes you out of the big picture for a moment."

The Canadians arrived in Jacmel last week when much of the town's population was still trapped in their demolished homes.

Today, survivors of the earthquake that reduced Governor General Michaëlle Jean's hometown to rubble are living in tents in the streets.

On Friday the team set up their field hospital on the pier at the base of the downtown core. From there a team of 40 medics have helped treat hundreds of people, including 240 on Monday.

"Today was our busiest day by far," said Maj. Annie Bouchard, the medic overseeing the field hospital, who has been working with a broken hand.

Four days into a deployment that could last 40 days, the major says DART's medical team is already operating near its limits.

"We can't really handle any more (patients) than what we had today," said Bouchard, a native of Quebec City.

"We need NGOs to open up here to give us some relief. We haven't had any deaths in (our field hospital) yet, but we have seen big wounds."

Many of the first foreign aid workers to arrive in Haiti are now rotating out. As DART members treat the wounded on the Jacmel pier, exhausted aid workers just metres away board ships bound for the Dominican Republic.

"We are tired," said French aid worker Lamotte Quenten, heaving his bag over his shoulder and walking onto a military ship waiting for him and 15 other aid workers who had been on the ground for more than a week.

As the first wave of volunteers begins to leave the crisis in Haiti, the mass movement of refugees from Port-au-Prince is only beginning to take its toll on the countryside.

Jacmel, a town on the south coast of Haiti, is not the final destination for most refugees, but it is on the route to some of the country's more rural towns, where refugees have begun to flee.

Bouchard said her team has started to see patients coming in from neighbouring towns including the capital, which remains a four-hour bus ride from Jacmel.

Last week the road from Port-au-Prince to Jacmel, which passes through Leogane (epicentre for the quake that left the capital in ruins), was closed due to damage caused by the tremors, which tore apart the asphalt and left boulders and debris. Now it is lined with a steady flow of buses and trucks of all shapes, colours, sizes and ages carrying refugees from the capital.

Intercity buses are so overloaded with refugees that they pile onto the roofs. The bare feet of refugees dangle over the back of pickup trucks as they climb the hills (also devastated, not by the quake but by a century of deforestation) that divide Port-au-Prince and Jacmel.

In the capital, the streets were chaotic and crowded, even by this city's standards, as refugees moved en masse for roads leading out. With the port and airfield monopolized by foreign aid groups, survivors are travelling by foot, car, truck and bus to escape the devastation.

The city is quickly emptying to the countryside. The government says 150,000 to 200,000 people have left Port-au-Prince, a city that housed 2.5 million Haitians before the earthquake.

As many as 1 million people need to find new shelter, the United Nations estimates, and there aren't enough tents or safe buildings for them.

As poor as the country is, many Haitians have long made a living as agricultural workers in the countryside. Whether that countryside, which lacks the aid resources of the capital, can sustain the influx of domestic refugees remains unclear.









> Canadian DART team medical technicians, Master Cpl. Lucie Rouleau, left, and Cpl. Cheryl Belanger join in a tearful embrace after a group of about 100 people from Jacmel sang songs of thanks to the Canadian team.
> LUCAS OLENIUK/TORONTO STAR


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## old medic (28 Jan 2010)

I realize this post is duplicated from one up on the news board.

Canadian military clinic delivers baby amid destruction in Haitian town
Andrew Mayeda, Canwest News Service: Thursday, January 28, 2010 7:18 PM

JACMEL, Haiti — Since the earthquake, Canadian Forces have delivered food, water and other necessities to the people of this pretty seaside town.

But shortly before 1 p.m. on Thursday, they made a delivery of a different kind: Monique Lucie-Marie, a six-pound baby girl.

She is the first baby to be born at a field clinic set up by Canadian troops less than a week ago. Her parents were so grateful to the medics who delivered her —Master Cpl. Lucie Rouleau and Cpl. Monique Bartlett — that they named their first-born child after them.

"They're the two doctors who brought my daughter into this world, so we wanted her to have the same names," said the baby's elated father, Pierre Jean-Charles.

His wife, Marie Jean-Gilles, was catching some much-needed rest after a nerve-wracking day that began when she was taken to the city's hospital, only to find they couldn't treat her.

For the two medics, who normally work at a military hospital in Canada where most of the patients are members of the Forces, it was a touching moment amid the grind of treating a long line of Haitians queuing under the scorching sun.

"This really raised our morale. It makes you realize why we're here," said Bartlett, 37, a native of Gagetown, N.B.

Originally, Canadian military medics were dispatched to the city's hospital, which was badly damaged in the Jan. 12 earthquake, forcing patients to lie on the ground outside.

A team of U.S. civilian doctors has since taken over the operating room, but the hospital remains unable to treat everyone who shows up.

The field clinic has been relieving some pressure by treating all the "walking wounded."

While medics have performed some amputations, many patients are now showing up with less serious ailments.

The clinic is part of a multi-pronged effort by the military to bring relief to this small city, the hometown of Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean's mother.

As of Thursday, there were about 1,500 Canadian troops on the ground in Haiti, with the rest of Canada's contingent stationed in the town of Leogane, west of the capital of Port-au-Prince. Once all the Canadian troops have arrived, Canada should have about 2,100 personnel in the country — roughly the same number that are based in Afghanistan.

Jacmel was not pummelled as badly in the magnitude-7.0 earthquake as Port-au-Prince. While some buildings downtown collapsed, most of the brightly painted homes in the city are still standing.

Yet in the days following the quake, the tortuous road between Jacmel and the capital was all but impassable due to fallen rocks and debris, cutting off residents here from the main source of relief.

Canadian engineers have been clearing the road, and by Thursday, the drive from Port-au-Prince had been reduced to three hours.

"There were certainly challenges in the beginning," said Maj. Bernard Dionne, a military spokesman. "We almost take it day by day here."

The military has also refurbished the city's tiny airstrip so that hulking transport planes and helicopters could deliver personnel and supplies.

The Canadians set up a makeshift air-traffic control tower and cut down trees at the head of the 1,000-metre runway so transport aircraft, which usually land on runways roughly three times as long, would not have to execute too steep an approach.

"When we got here, there was basically nothing on the ground, no air-traffic control," said Maj. Scott Frost, after landing a Hercules C-130 transport plane at the airport, which now serves as the military's primary supply hub in the country.

Back at port, the turquoise water laps gently against the anchored HMCS Halifax. But according to Sgt. Tony Weeks, who is in charge of the military's water-purification unit, it's the most undrinkable water he's ever seen.

A polluted river typically contains about 900 parts per million of dissolved solids, said Weeks. The water off the coast of Jacmel registers at about 35,000 parts per million.

Behind him, a dark green metal box known as a reverse-osmosis water-purification unit chugs away on full bore, squeezing out impurities through eight different membranes before pumping out clean water.

The unit is now producing about 26,000 litres of drinking water a day that is being delivered to residents of Jacmel.









> Cpl. Lucie Rouleau (left) and Cpl. Monique Bartlett hold a new born girl named Monique-Lucie Marie in a Canadian field hospital in Jacmal, Haiti on January 28, 2010. The baby was named after the two medics who helped with the delivery.
> Photo Credit: Kier Gilmour, Canwest News Service


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## old medic (29 Jan 2010)

From the fact sheet
Information updated 27 January 2010 
http://comfec-cefcom.forces.gc.ca/pa-ap/ops/fs-fr/hestia-eng.asp

# Medical Platoon

    * 24 orphans flown to Canada 25 January; 48 more to depart 28 January
    * Clinic now working at full capacity; 356 patients seen 26 January
    * Aid station established at the U.N. camp
    * Working closely with civilian humanitarian agency Canadian Medical Assistance Teams (CMAT) and
       medical personnel from other units of Joint Task Force Haiti


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## old medic (29 Jan 2010)

From the fact sheet
Information updated 27 January 2010
http://comfec-cefcom.forces.gc.ca/pa-ap/ops/fs-fr/hestia-eng.asp

1 Canadian Field Hospital

    * Site preparation complete; first tent erected


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## PMedMoe (29 Jan 2010)

Two big thumbs up to the DART!

One thumb down to the Toronto Star for identifying Major Bouchard as a "medic".  She is a doctor.


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## old medic (29 Jan 2010)

From the fact sheet
updated 29 January 2010

In Léogâne

The primary Joint Task Force Haiti activity in Léogâne is the field hospital.
1 Canadian Field Hospital

    * Now at full strength with all essential equipment; operating room block delivered on 28 January
    * Receiving first patients on 29 January


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## old medic (29 Jan 2010)

From the fact sheet
Updated 29 January 2010;
http://comfec-cefcom.forces.gc.ca/pa-ap/ops/fs-fr/hestia-eng.asp

Patients seen to date at all DART clinics: 2,783



Link the the Canadian Press video on yesterday's baby delivery story;
http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/haiti/2010/01/29/12667091.html
   





> If you read this story in a few years' time, Monique-Lucie Marie, here's how things happened on the day you were born.
> Updated 29th January 2010, 2:02pm


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## old medic (30 Jan 2010)

Tending to Haiti's wounded
QUAKE RELIEF: 'We treat all the patients we see with dignity,' says Trenton-based medic
By LUKE HENDRY THE BELLEVILLE INTELLIGENCER 
29 January 2010
http://www.intelligencer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2280398

The mission to help victims of the Haitian earthquake is making progress daily, a local medic says.

Cpl. Alex Robitaille is a medic with Trenton's 24 Health Services unit. He's now on his first deployment with the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), having arrived in Haiti Jan. 13, the day after the quake. He's now in the town of Jacmel, where the bulk of Canadians are serving.

"The day-to-day routine has had a fast pace," he told The Intelligencer Wednesday in an e-mail message written between seeing patients.

"I have been seeing at least 12 patients each day, dealing with at first lots of injuries from the earthquake ... There were a lot of fractures and wound care and it became more chronic problems like back pain and various infections."

At first, he said, there was a lack of supplies as medics treated people using only what they carried in their medical bag. The real challenge is now to ensure patients continue to get the care they need, but the Canadian camp's systems are improving daily.

It's hoped a hospital can be created in Jacmel, he said.

Robitaille said it's difficult for the team to be away from home, but also dealing with Haitians' poor living conditions. That, said Robitaille, includes tending wounds and then "telling them that they should keep the wound clean and sending them back to live in the streets."

He recalled two very different images of the quake's aftermath: a father crying in fear of losing his sick child and a group of Haitians who visited the Canadians' camp to sing and play music in thanks.

"One of the biggest needs is food and water and DART is working on it," said Robitaille. "Being one of the first nations on the ground and starting to make a difference the day after the earthquake is something we could be proud of.

"One thing Canadians should know about Canadian medics is how we treat all the patients we see with dignity and as we would like to be treated ourselves." .....................

Article continues at link above.


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## old medic (30 Jan 2010)

Canadian military brings mobile surgical unit to hard hit Haitian community

The Canadian Press 
30 January 2010
copy at: http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/world/article/438118--canadian-military-brings-mobile-surgical-unit-to-hard-hit-haitian-community

JACMEL, Haiti - The Canadian military has helped provide a critical medical facility in the earthquake ravaged Haitian community of Jacmel.

The Canadian Forces has transported a mobile surgical unit that was donated by a Swiss emergency relief association.

Capt. Meghan Joiner is the medical liaison with Canada's Disaster Assistance Relief Team.

She says the military used vehicles to bring the self-contained unit from the capital Port-Au-Prince and cleared a site for it.

Joiner says many of the people affected by the earthquake require various surgical procedures.

She says although there is a backlog of patients in Jacmel, things are slowly improving as various countries bring more resources into the area.


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## old medic (30 Jan 2010)

Canada earns its wings
By: Dan Lett
The Winnipeg Free Press
30 January 2010
copy at: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/Canada-earns-its-wings-83147562.html

JACMEL, Haiti -- The moment the chain-link gate opened, Beatrice's cries rose to a fran­tic pitch, the sound bouncing off the crum­bling walls of abandoned buildings and flooding the tents at the Canadian Forces field clinic.

Those plaintiff cries ensured Beatrice was the first patient admit­ted to the clinic. Just a few months old, Beatrice continued shrieking as a Canadian medic looked her over and asked the mother a few questions. The medic suspected a respiratory ailment.

As Beatrice made her way into the clinic, more than 100 other patients jos­tled to be next. There were some angry words and violent pushing near the end of the line, which had dissolved from an orderly column into a surging throng. A triage medic scanned the crowd before summoning an elderly man whose legs shook violently and a younger man with a badly infected leg that had swelled up to twice its normal size.

It is a scene that has become familiar to Maj.

Annie Bouchard, a military physician and the commanding officer for this clinic. It is the fifth day the clinic -- part of Canada's Disaster As­sistance Relief Team (DART) force -- has been open. For days before that, Canadian military doctors and medics worked tirelessly in the rubble of Jacmel's only hospital. The clinic is now the only source of primary health care in Jacmel, a seaside city of 40,000 in southern Haiti well-known to Canadians as the childhood home to Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean.

Two weeks has passed since the earthquake rocked Haiti, but the patient load is increasing, not decreasing. There are fewer trauma cases related to the earthquake, Bouchard noted, but there are an increasing number of serious earthquake-related afflictions: pneumonia, de­hydration and malnutrition, raging infections.

"The first day we were open, we had 10 pa­tients," said Bouchard, one of four emergency­room physicians working at the clinic. "Yester­day we had 350 and it's going to keep going up."

The tempo and magnitude of Canada's pres­ence in Haiti is remarkable, especially when you consider there are limited avenues to get supplies and personnel into the impoverished country.

And yet, Canada has moved more than one million kilograms of aid and mission support materiel into Haiti since the quake hit Jan. 12.

How did they do it? "It was air force support," Bouchard said. "We could not have done this without the air force."

Continues at link above.......


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## old medic (31 Jan 2010)

DART medical teams get out in the field in Haiti
The Canadian Press
31 January 2010
copy at: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100131/DART_Haiti_100131/20100131?hub=World

JACMEL, Haiti — Canada's Disaster Assistance Relief Team is putting a new tool in the field in earthquake shattered Haiti.

The DART will send out a mobile medical team today for the first time in Haiti.

The team will spend the day in an area about 15 kilometres from the village of Leogane.

In an email, Canadian Forces Major Bernard Dionne says the area has been assessed as one where many Haitians suffered earthquake-related injuries.

The mobile medical teams consist of nearly a dozen medical personnel, plus a few soldiers to offer protection and Dionne says they can treat 100 people a day.

He says the military plans to send one team out each day, and will use helicopters to get them into areas where no road access is available.

Dionne says the concept was used successfully in Pakistan after that country was hard-hit by an earthquake in 2005.

Personnel from the teams are drawn from DART's medical clinic.


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## old medic (2 Feb 2010)

From the fact sheet
updated 02 Feb 2010
http://comfec-cefcom.forces.gc.ca/pa-ap/ops/fs-fr/hestia-eng.asp

In Léogâne

The primary Joint Task Force Haiti activity in Léogâne is the Role 2 field hospital, supported by the 3rd Battalion Royal 22e Régiment Battalion Group (3 R22eR BG) and HMCS Athabaskan cruising offshore.........

1 Canadian Field Hospital

      Role 2 field hospital offering limited surgery
      First patients admitted 29 January
          surgical procedures completed to date: 24
          patients treated to date: 897
      Receiving potable water from U.S. Marines


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## old medic (4 Feb 2010)

DART Medical Platoon
          - 1 February: Village medical outreach patrol north of Segueneau with 1 medical officer and 3 medical  
             technicians supported by infantry


From the DND front page;








> January 31, 2010 - Tom Gato, Haiti
> 
> Corporal Melissa Bisutti, a member of the Mobile Medical Team (MMT) examines a little boy from Tom Gato, Haiti. The MMT is a section of the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) that provides basic medical assistance to remote areas around Jacmel, Haiti that have been damaged during the earthquake.
> 
> Photo: Corporal Julie Bélisle, Canadian Forces Combat Camera


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## old medic (4 Feb 2010)

From the fact sheet;
http://comfec-cefcom.forces.gc.ca/pa-ap/ops/fs-fr/hestia-eng.asp

03 Feb 2010

- Patients seen to date at Village Medical Outreach clinics: 332

DART Medical Platoon

 - Village Medical Outreach patrols conducted daily; each team comprises 1 medical officer and 3 medical 
   technicians supported by infantry


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## old medic (5 Feb 2010)

There has been almost zero media coverage of 1 Fd Hospital, but this article showed up from
army news. 

http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/land-terre/news-nouvelles/story-reportage-eng.asp?id=4101

Field hospital set up in Léogâne

Thursday, February 04, 2010








> The medical team coordinates their final preparations before patients start arriving at the field hospital on January 29.



Léogâne, Haiti — January 29 saw the first patients admitted to the Role 2 field hospital located in  Léogâne, a city that sustained massive damage in the January 12 earthquake.

The hospital, which was set up by 1 Canadian Field Hospital (1 Cdn Fd Hosp), is the main focus of the Joint Task Force’s work in Haiti.

"In my opinion, the work the team did to deploy the hospital so quickly was unprecedented," said Major Patrick Brizay, Deputy Commander of 1 Cdn Fd Hosp.

The local residents learned about the hospital's opening on the radio.

"People already knew we were open," said Maj Amélie Proulx of 1 Cdn Fd Hosp. "At 10:00 am, people were already waiting in line."







> Corporal Jérôme Boulay was one of the first medical technicians to see Haitian patients.



Emergencies treated around the clock
From the moment it opened, the hospital welcomed patients and performed surgeries. The hospital offers regular service during the day and is open around the clock to handle emergencies.

The local population was hit hard by the earthquake, and since no medical institutions survived the disaster the need is great. 

The 116 staff members include medical technicians, surgeons, nurses and other personnel. The hospital has two operating rooms, a laboratory, a pharmacy, a radiology room and many beds. 







> Captain Neil Parker, chaplain, blessed the medical team and all of Role 2 at the official opening of the hospital.



"If there are injuries caused by the earthquake, we will certainly see amputations," explained Maj Brizay.

"We can also expect to perform debridement, treating open wounds that were poorly treated and have become infected."

Security for the hospital is provided by soldiers from 3 R22eR BG and the crew of HMCS Athabaskan, who are controlling access.

By February 2, the hospital in Léogâne had completed 24 surgical procedures and treated 897 patients.


Article: MCpl Jean-Nicolas Minville, Army News, Montreal
Photos: Cpl Julie Turcotte, Army News, Montreal


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## old medic (5 Feb 2010)

Medics must improvise in Haiti

http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/land-terre/news-nouvelles/story-reportage-eng.asp?id=4107

Monday, February 08, 2010

Léogâne, Haiti — The arrival of Canadian soldiers and scores of non-governmental organizations means that the population is now benefiting from improved medical care in the aftermath of the January 12th earthquake. But there are still Haitians who have yet to receive care for lack of transportation. 








> Limited resources force medics to transport wounded in flat bed truck.



The roads are in poor shape, and most Haitians get around on motorcycles. Getting a family member to a medical clinic can be a daunting challenge.

When given directions, medics take the wheel of a flat bed truck to evacuate the wounded. Because of the lack of time and resources, only the most serious cases are dealt with this way.

“Haiti is the only place I’ve seen this,” explained Corporal Mélanie Mascolo of 5 Field Ambulance. “We never have to use a truck bed to evacuate wounded, but it does the trick.”

“An amputee lived far away, and no one in her family had any means of transportation,” she added. “It’s so sad. Good thing we were there.”







> Master Corporal Macha Khoudja-Poirier and Corporal Mélanie Mascolo evacuate an 18-year-old woman.



Medics act quickly, but sometimes information takes time getting through to the medical personnel. For example, an 18-year-old who had been bedridden since January 12 due to a fracture in her right leg received care only when her brother made her plight known on January 31.







> Medical team comes to assist woman requiring medical care.



Article and photos: Corporal Julie Turcotte, Army News, Montreal


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## PMedMoe (6 Feb 2010)

Here's a short clip from CTV news (via YouTube):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNG_zLLm8ng


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## old medic (8 Feb 2010)

Update from the fact sheet;
http://comfec-cefcom.forces.gc.ca/pa-ap/ops/fs-fr/hestia-eng.asp

as of 05 Feb 2010

1 Canadian Field Hospital

    - Role 2 hospital offering limited surgery
    - First patients admitted 29 January
             surgical procedures completed to date: 47
             patients treated to date: 1,336
    - Receiving potable water from U.S. Marines


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## old medic (8 Feb 2010)

from the fact sheet;
http://comfec-cefcom.forces.gc.ca/pa-ap/ops/fs-fr/hestia-eng.asp

as of 05 Feb 2010

DART Medical Platoon

    * Mobile Medical Teams conducting walk-in clinics in towns near Jacmel
    * Static clinics operating at full capacity
    * Working closely with civilian humanitarian agency Canadian Medical Assistance Teams (CMAT) and medical personnel from other units of Joint Task Force Haiti


# Patients seen to date at Village Medical Outreach clinics: 641

# Patients seen to date: 3591  (estimate by subtracting the Fd Hosp. total of 1336 and outreach total 641 from 5,568).


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## old medic (9 Feb 2010)

January 31, 2010 - Tom Gato, Haiti

Corporal (Cpl) Petra Sutton, a member of the Mobile Medical Team (MMT) examines a little boy from Tom Gato, Haiti. The MMT is a section of the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) that provides basic medical assistance to remote areas around Jacmel, Haiti that have been damaged during the earthquake.

Photo: Corporal Julie Bélisle, Canadian Forces Combat Camera


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## old medic (12 Feb 2010)

Update from the fact sheet;
http://comfec-cefcom.forces.gc.ca/pa-ap/ops/fs-fr/hestia-eng.asp

as of 12 Feb 2010

1 Canadian Field Hospital

    - Role 2 hospital offering limited surgery
    - First patients admitted 29 January
           surgical procedures completed to date: 102
           patients treated to date: 2,148
     - Assessing capabilities of Haitian medical resources in Léogâne and Jacmel as part of transition planning


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## old medic (25 Feb 2010)

The fact sheet has become rather generic, but here is the update as of 23 Feb 2010

Update from the fact sheet;
http://comfec-cefcom.forces.gc.ca/pa-ap/ops/fs-fr/hestia-eng.asp


Patients seen to date at Role 1 clinics and Role 2 hospital: more than 15,500

Field hospital

With more than 100 staff, the Role 2 field hospital offers two operating rooms, 100 beds, a pharmacy, a laboratory, a radiology section, and dental services. The first patients were admitted on 29 January 2010. As part of transition planning, the hospital staff are also assessing the capabilities of medical facilities in Léogâne and Jacmel.


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## old medic (25 Feb 2010)




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## jennytainer (26 Feb 2010)

Anyway, whatever the issue is, the hospital is really being needed to for the victims. It is a kind that the Canadians mobile hospital has been set up there.


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## GAP (19 Jun 2013)

Canadian troops expected to be deployed to Haiti for peacekeeping

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/canadian-troops-expected-to-be-deployed-to-haiti-for-peacekeeping-1.1331849#ixzz2WfiMRjYn

 The Associated Press
Published Wednesday, June 19, 2013 6:50AM EDT

OTTAWA -- The federal government is expected to formally announce today that some Canadian troops will be heading to Haiti for a peacekeeping operation where they'll be working under Brazilian command.

The announcement comes just a day before the troops hit the ground in Haiti.

The way in which the six-month mission has been downplayed so far has surprised some observers.

The deployment of an infantry platoon was approved by the government in October last year.

But a senior defence source says the United Nations only signed off on having Canada added to the peacekeeping force last week.

The idea of teaming up with Brazil has been pitched for the past two years as a way to increase bilateral ties with the emerging economic power.


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## Caramon_Majere (19 Jun 2013)

This is the first time I hear of this, Thanks!

What are you guy's thoughts on this? I have no military experience : is this good, or bad?


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## Colin Parkinson (19 Jun 2013)

I would not be surprised that this is an operation to attempt to salvage the UN ops there and attempt to rebuild the UN rep in Haiti. That's my view from the comfy armchair.


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## The Bread Guy (19 Jun 2013)

The official word


> The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs) and General Tom Lawson, the Chief of the Defence Staff, today announced the upcoming deployment of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel as part of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
> 
> A CAF platoon from Quebec will depart on Friday, June 21st, 2013 to operate within a Brazilian battalion in Haiti until December. Their efforts will contribute to one of the CAF’s core roles – supporting international peace and security for greater stability in our hemisphere. This mission also demonstrates the Government of Canada’s ongoing commitment engaging in the Americas and deepening partnerships throughout the region.
> 
> ...


DND/CF news release, 19 Jun 13



			
				Colin P said:
			
		

> I would not be surprised that this is an operation to attempt to salvage the UN ops there and attempt to rebuild the UN rep in Haiti. That's my view from the comfy armchair.


I'd think it might take more than three dozen folks led by a 2LT/LT to do that - although hearing what I do about U.N. "capacity", that may be all it takes.  

More on OP Hamlet here

_- mod edit to upate links -_


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## Colin Parkinson (19 Jun 2013)

Mind you that platoon is integrated into a Brazilian Battalion, so it is a substantial package altogether. 

Can't quickly find any sizes for their units, but here is an org chart

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Brazilian_Army_-_CoOpTer_12%2C5.png


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## Colin Parkinson (19 Jun 2013)

I hope they are not flying "Air Brazil"  http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/unifeed/2013/05/haiti-airport-resumes-operation/


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## medicineman (19 Jun 2013)

Yick...I've sure TechnoViking can back me up on that.

MM


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## Journeyman (19 Jun 2013)

milnews.ca said:
			
		

> More on OP Hamlet here


Seriously?  Are they going to occupy FOB Yorick?   ;D


(I'm sure there's no shortage of jester's skulls down there    )


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## medicineman (19 Jun 2013)

Journeyman said:
			
		

> Seriously?  Are they going to occupy FOB Yorick?   ;D
> 
> 
> (I'm sure there's no shortage of jester's skulls down there    )



 :facepalm:


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## Humphrey Bogart (19 Jun 2013)

My good buddy is leading the Pl down there, we grew up together and he is a stellar officer and soldier.  Best of luck to him and the boys


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## The Bread Guy (19 Jun 2013)

A reminder:  it's NOT about getting back into peacekeeping....


> The Conservative government has no plans to re-embrace peacekeeping despite sending 34 soldiers to serve alongside Brazilian blue helmets in Haiti, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday.
> 
> (....)
> 
> ...


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## Ostrozac (20 Jun 2013)

Agreed, this is entirely about Canada's relationship with Haiti, and Canada's relationship with Brazil.

If this was about our relationship with the UN, we'd instead be increasing our involvement in the Congo or the Darfur. Both missions are currently over 20000 pers each, and might be the two largest UN peacekeeping missions in history. Haiti, at 11000 pers, is much less important for the UN right now.


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## daftandbarmy (20 Jun 2013)

RoyalDrew said:
			
		

> My good buddy is leading the Pl down there, we grew up together and he is a stellar officer and soldier.  Best of luck to him and the boys



That's a long way to go for a 'Brazilian'.


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## The Bread Guy (20 Aug 2013)

milnews.ca said:
			
		

> A reminder:  it's NOT about getting back into peacekeeping....


.... unless it still is peacekeeping:


> Prime Minister Stephen Harper (9 Aug 13) issued the following statement to mark National Peacekeepers’ Day:  "For several decades, Canada has made important contributions to peacekeeping operations around the world .... “Let us also remember those Canadians currently keeping up the proud tradition of peacekeeping in places such as Haiti, Israel, Cyprus and South Sudan, and wish them a safe return home ....


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## Colin Parkinson (20 Aug 2013)

Remind me again of which 2 nation states are currently requiring UN peacekeeping services in Haiti to assist in a peace process?


A police action by any other name is what it is.


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## tomahawk6 (20 Aug 2013)

If this is important why deploy a platoon ? Seems to me that a company size task force would be more of a symbol of solidarity.


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## Journeyman (20 Aug 2013)

tomahawk6 said:
			
		

> If this is important why deploy a platoon ? Seems to me that a company size task force would be more of a symbol of solidarity.


Couldn't find more than 30 guys who wanted to learn Portuguese?    :dunno:


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## armyvern (20 Aug 2013)

milnews.ca said:
			
		

> .... unless it still is peacekeeping:



Too true; those blue beret tours (and the orange one) we are participating in didn't stop over the past 12 years --- they just haven't got the press.


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## The Bread Guy (22 Aug 2013)

More on the Brazil link, via the CF Info-machine (the word "peacekeeper" is only mentioned once, BTW, referring to the training facility in Brazil):


> On 21 June, a platoon of 34 personnel from the Canadian Army left for Haiti as part of Operation HAMLET– Canada’s military contribution to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, commonly known by its French name as MINUSTAH.
> 
> But first they made a slight detour to Brazil ­– one of the largest contributors to the mission and an important ally to both Haiti and Canada. Here they were trained by the Brazilian Armed Forces and integrated into a Brazilian Battalion (BRABAT).
> 
> ...








Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 29 June 2013: Soldiers receive a gesture of appreciation from a child while on patrol. Canadian Forces members, in collaboration with Brazilian troops, are participating in stability and security efforts in Haiti.





Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 22 June 2013: Soldiers participate in a neighbourhood meeting in their area of operation. Canadian Forces members, in collaboration with Brazilian troops, are participating in stability and security efforts in Haiti. (Photo: Canadian Armed Forces)


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## tomahawk6 (11 Sep 2013)

Some additional images from the deployment.






United Nation soldiers from 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment and Brazilian Army, cross a small bridge during a dismounted presence patrol at Camp Jean-Marie Vincent, an internally displaced persons camp in Port-au-Prince, Haiti during Operation HAMLET on September 3, 2013.






Sergeant Pierre-Alexandre Ruegsegger (left) and Private Gelin (right) from 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment speak with residents of camp Jean-Marie Vincent in Port-au-Prince, Haiti during Operation HAMLET on September 3, 2013.






Captain Nicholas Payne (left) from 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment and Captain Fábio Nunes (right) from Brazilian Army talk during a dismounted presence patrol in Port-au-Prince, Haiti during Operation HAMLET on September 3, 2013.






Captain Nicholas Payne (left) from 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment and Captain Fábio Nunes (right) from Brazilian Army enjoy a few minutes of rest during a dismounted presence patrol in Port-au-Prince, Haiti during Operation HAMLET on September 3, 2013.






United Nation soldiers from 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment prepare to walk toward Camp Jean-Marie Vincent, which is an internally displaced persons camp, during Operation HAMLET in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on September 3, 2013


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## -rb (11 Sep 2013)

http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/the-canadian-militarys-experiment-in-haiti

A couple months old but worth a read...  

Cheers.


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## Retired AF Guy (9 Mar 2016)

Various media outlets are reporting this, nothing confirmed yet. 



> Canada to takeover Haiti peacekeeping: media
> 
> Montreal (AFP) - Canada is planning to take over command of the UN stabilization mission in Haiti and replace the bulk of troops on the ground from Brazil with its own, according to a report Wednesday.
> 
> ...



 Article Link


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## PuckChaser (9 Mar 2016)

There are 2200 Brazilian troops there. Judging by Trudeau's comments, is he planning on just posting 5 Bde there for a few years until there's more than 2 slots a year per trade on French language training? Be very interesting to see the details on this one, but I'm sure we'll only get "details soon" from the government's PR team.


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## Ostrozac (9 Mar 2016)

Interesting, if it is true. This neatly fulfills the election promise of participating in UN missions without going through the logistic and tactical difficulties of participating in the two largest ongoing UN missions, Darfur and Congo, which happen to also be the two largest UN missions in history.

But there has also been much reporting that the current mandate for MINUSTAH (which ends Oct 2016) may be the last mandate for the mission, and that the UN is considering completely closing down the mission this summer, once the new President is in place. It doesn't make sense to change around lead nations just for mission closeout.

It does make perfect sense if Canada is intending to stay in Haiti post-MINUSTAH in a bilateral Canada-Haiti stabilization role, separate from the UN.


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## Jarnhamar (9 Mar 2016)

But since the Liberals are chopping 400 million we're going to have to ask all the Bosnian and Cyprus vets to borrow their old blue berets and hats.


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## PuckChaser (9 Mar 2016)

Jarnhamar said:
			
		

> But sine the Liberals are chopping 400 million we're going to have to ask all the Bosnian and Cyprus vets to borrow their old blue berets and hats.


Fortunately we're still driving some of the same vehicles, though.


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## medicineman (9 Mar 2016)

Funny, I seem to remember my pre-deployment training for Haiti in 2003 where we were told that by and large, not many Haitians speak French...they speak Creole, which though similar, isn't French.  Hence why we had a pile of Haitian-Canadian soldiers translating for us.  I did manage to get my points across in French on a few occasions, but generally had to borrow a translator.

MM


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## Old Sweat (9 Mar 2016)

I wrote a NEO contingency plan for Haiti a very long time ago.

Much later I had the pleasure of telling a friend in the ski team that I jumped up and let out a roar when Wolf Blitzer announced that Canadian Special Forces had taken control of the Port-au-Prince International Airport when Aristide was being invited to seek other career options.


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## Leeworthy (10 Mar 2016)

Hmm, very interesting. I was in Haiti for the January 2010 earthquake. The UN and other NGO's seemed to be doing just fine there. There were not to many security issues that I recall asides from looters and people trying to take food from NGO and military handout points. These weren't rebel forces or militia type people but people who were hungry and wanted food for their families. I can honestly say Haiti is a beautiful country if they would just help themselves out and make it more inviting. The majority of the island is covered in garbage and ther filth. The beaches were gorgeous (looked the same as the DR) and the country could thrive if it could clean itself up and invite people to tourism.

Im just not sure what we can do for them in long-term? Help them clean up their country, build sanitazion facilities, improve their building practices? Would that be the type of things we would do long-term for a country such as this?


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## Journeyman (10 Mar 2016)

Leeworthy said:
			
		

> I'm just not sure what we can do for them in long-term? Help them clean up their country, build sanitation facilities, improve their building practices? Would that be *the type of things we would do* long-term for a country such as this?


These are likely the type of things we _would_  do... especially if it allows our government to pat itself on the back as being an awesome UN citizen.

Will it make a difference?  Absolutely not.  Look at many of the other UN good-Samaritan projects that immediately fell into disrepair once completed.  Why is that?  Well, it doesn't matter in the slightest what we do if the local citizens refuse to take responsibility for their own behaviour.

Magically, will the Haitians become responsible?  I see no evidence of that happening. I think what evidence is relevant is comparing Dominican Republic and Haiti -- same island; different planets.


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## Fishbone Jones (10 Mar 2016)

Our new Cyprus?


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## Rifleman62 (10 Mar 2016)

Keep the military occupied/committed to a large UN msn = Canada is fully committed to peace and does not have the resources to assist in *any* combat role, anywhere.


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## PuckChaser (10 Mar 2016)

And you don't have to buy the Army and Air Force any shiny new equipment, can roll all that money into subs that barely sail and ships that are being built by shoddy contractors at 3x the price.


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## medicineman (10 Mar 2016)

This will be what, the fourth or fifth time back there as a full time commitment in decent size?  Apparently the writing is too incoherent for people to understand that the place needs uncompromising, unbiased, and strong government, not us doing the job well trained and led police can and should do.

I can say this - I won't volunteer to go back there again.

MM


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## Fishbone Jones (10 Mar 2016)

Rifleman62 said:
			
		

> Keep the military occupied/committed to a large UN msn = Canada is fully committed to peace and does not have the resources to assist in *any* combat role, anywhere.



QFTFT!


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## The Bread Guy (14 Apr 2017)

Wonder what this'll mean for Canada's presence?


> Recognizing the “major milestone” Haiti has achieved toward stabilization following recent elections, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations mission in the island nation for a final six-month period and authorized a smaller successor peacekeeping mission.
> 
> Unanimously adopting a new resolution, the Council decided that, after over 13 years operating in its current form, the UN Stabilization Mission, known by its French acronym, MINUSTAH, would gradually draw down its military component during the next six months, finally withdrawing from Haiti by 15 October 2017.
> 
> ...


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## Colin Parkinson (15 Apr 2017)

Hopefully we are out of there and the people can take self responsibility


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## Ostrozac (15 Apr 2017)

Canada's CIVPOL contingent to MINUSTAH has constituted the bulk of Canada's contribution to UN peacekeeping for many years. I'm interested to see if the RCMP are participants in the successor force.


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## Humphrey Bogart (15 Apr 2017)

This might just be the new mission for the Biebs to take us, we can "lead" and not even have to commit the military!


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## Journeyman (15 Apr 2017)

milnews.ca said:
			
		

> Recognizing the “major milestone” Haiti has achieved toward stabilization following recent elections, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations mission in the island nation for a *final* six-month period ......
> ....after over 13 years operating in its current form....


:rofl:

Yep, and Canada went into Cyprus on a 4-month mandate in 1964.  UNFICYP is now the #2 contributor to the Cypriot economy (after tourism) and still going strong.

Haiti can't make money off of tourism, so I'm not writing off that UN cash cow's presence just yet.


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