Saturday, January 23, 2010
Haiti Airlift = Berlin Airlift Redux+++
From the ground in Haiti comes a personal report available at Jerry Pournelle's site (you must scroll to the bottom of the January 22 posts to find it in total). The media coverage has focused on the negatives (as too often they do) and ignored the yeoman efforts behind the scenes.
Prior to the Haiti disaster, the largest and most incredibly successful humanitarian effort in the world's history to supply the fundamental needs of food, fuel and clothing to a large population under enemy siege was the Berlin Airlift of 1948-49((available here).
To summarize that program, consider that the airlift: coordinated 300,000 flights on three (3) runways over a span of 330 days; delivered 6,000,000,000 pounds of supplies to about 2,000,000 West Berliners . The grid here shows the mind-boggling logistics. No room for error.
In Haiti, the US military took control of the SINGLE runway in the airport in Port au Prince. (The UN manages the city but the US military controls the air space - thankfully.) This P au P airfield typically sees 5-15 flights a day. Now the US military is coordinating 280 flights a day, round the clock. That is 1 flight every 5 minutes.
Now consider the Haiti situation: population of 3,500,000; over 30 "hospitals" but only 3 had more than 100 beds; total beds: around 1600 beds, BEFORE the earthquake struck. There are an estimated 250,000 injuries to be treated. A fourth grader could look at this arithmetic and realize there's a problem.
The pleas for orthopedic surgeons and medical personnel are being addressed as many doctors are voluntarily going to Haiti to help. However, the real need is for more beds, medical supplies, and operating rooms.
What's being done? In addition to the thousands of volunteers, USNS Comfort ship arrived on the 22nd (just as navy ships sailed to SE Asia after the typhoons of a few years ago). The ship is a floating hospital with 1000 patient beds, 80 intensive care beds, 950 naval hospital staff and 12 operating rooms.
The Israelies sent help at the first notice of the earthquake. Withing eight hours, they had set up a state-of-the-art hospital, on the ground. Their experience in rescuing victims of terrorism and war is being used extensively in Haiti. (Does not appear that any of their enemies are helping....)
The Canadian expeditionary force chose to focus its efforts in Jacmel and expect to have a functioning field hospital operating by this Friday.
As mentioned above, the base need is for supplies. You can go here or here or here to donate.
Prior to the Haiti disaster, the largest and most incredibly successful humanitarian effort in the world's history to supply the fundamental needs of food, fuel and clothing to a large population under enemy siege was the Berlin Airlift of 1948-49((available here).
To summarize that program, consider that the airlift: coordinated 300,000 flights on three (3) runways over a span of 330 days; delivered 6,000,000,000 pounds of supplies to about 2,000,000 West Berliners . The grid here shows the mind-boggling logistics. No room for error.
In Haiti, the US military took control of the SINGLE runway in the airport in Port au Prince. (The UN manages the city but the US military controls the air space - thankfully.) This P au P airfield typically sees 5-15 flights a day. Now the US military is coordinating 280 flights a day, round the clock. That is 1 flight every 5 minutes.
Now consider the Haiti situation: population of 3,500,000; over 30 "hospitals" but only 3 had more than 100 beds; total beds: around 1600 beds, BEFORE the earthquake struck. There are an estimated 250,000 injuries to be treated. A fourth grader could look at this arithmetic and realize there's a problem.
The pleas for orthopedic surgeons and medical personnel are being addressed as many doctors are voluntarily going to Haiti to help. However, the real need is for more beds, medical supplies, and operating rooms.
What's being done? In addition to the thousands of volunteers, USNS Comfort ship arrived on the 22nd (just as navy ships sailed to SE Asia after the typhoons of a few years ago). The ship is a floating hospital with 1000 patient beds, 80 intensive care beds, 950 naval hospital staff and 12 operating rooms.
The Israelies sent help at the first notice of the earthquake. Withing eight hours, they had set up a state-of-the-art hospital, on the ground. Their experience in rescuing victims of terrorism and war is being used extensively in Haiti. (Does not appear that any of their enemies are helping....)
The Canadian expeditionary force chose to focus its efforts in Jacmel and expect to have a functioning field hospital operating by this Friday.
As mentioned above, the base need is for supplies. You can go here or here or here to donate.
Labels: haiti, US Soldiers
Saturday, January 16, 2010
A note from Haiti
A note this PM from one of my alumni who knows a family there.
I couldn't find the song in Creole, but here is the song those Haitians were singing at the bottom; I'll be asking the band I sing with to do this song soon. There was a wonderful caller -- "Paul in Alabama" -- on Dennis Miller's show this week, where Dennis was wondering that most basic of questions, how can a loving God permit such pain in the world. He had referred to it as an "act of God" and the caller gave a mild correction (paraphrasing; if you are a Dennis Miller Zone member, it's the Thursday call of the day.): "An earthquake is not an act of God. It is an act of nature. The act of God is what we do about the earthquake and the suffering."
Some friends of my family, the Williams', have been working with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Haiti for the past 20ish years. They are affiliated with a school that is engaged in the relief effort that is accepting paypal donations:Glee notes separately, when we asked permission to post this, that she and the children have left because to stay would drain very scarce food resources. "Pray the gas holds out for transportation," she concludes. The school's website says they have converted themselves into an orphanage and temporary hospital; there are people camping on the soccer field.
Everyone except Mark, the father/husband in this family, is currently safe state side. The two younger boys left for college a week or so ago. Here's something Glee, the mom/wife, said in her facebook status yesterday morning: We just had another large, rumbling aftershock that sent us out into the streets again. Then we heard singing from the ravine, in Creole tranlated, On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand, All Other Ground is Sinking Sand. The Haitian people are amazing!
I couldn't find the song in Creole, but here is the song those Haitians were singing at the bottom; I'll be asking the band I sing with to do this song soon. There was a wonderful caller -- "Paul in Alabama" -- on Dennis Miller's show this week, where Dennis was wondering that most basic of questions, how can a loving God permit such pain in the world. He had referred to it as an "act of God" and the caller gave a mild correction (paraphrasing; if you are a Dennis Miller Zone member, it's the Thursday call of the day.): "An earthquake is not an act of God. It is an act of nature. The act of God is what we do about the earthquake and the suffering."
What are you called to do?
