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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.
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.
