Haiti
Territory: 27,750 km²
Population: 10.4 million
Earthquake in Haiti
On January 12th 2010, Haiti was shaken by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. The epicentre was located about 30 km southwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed. The most affected areas were region around Port-au-Prince and the town of Léogâne. All of the important public institutions, such as hospitals and schools, were completely demolished. It is estimated that over 220,000 people died, 300,000 were injured and more than 1.5 million became homeless. A total of 3.2 million people were affected by the disaster (one third of Haiti's population).
DEMIRA in Haiti
Soon after the earthquake hit, DEMIRA started organising itself to send the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) and basic supplies to Haiti. In a short time volunteers were mobilised, relief supplies were prepared and the necessary funds were collected. Five days after the disaster the first team started working at the Haitian refugee camps in Petionville. A total of 34 doctors, 6 paramedics and 22 local staff were engaged in DEMIRAs emergency operation.
DEMIRAs tent-based emergency hospital in Petionville was capable of treating 300 people per day as well as taking in six permanent patients. Approximately 80% of the patients were women and children. The medical staff was able to conduct minor surgical procedures, but when patients were heavily injured or sick, they were transferred in an ambulance to one of the few hospitals that had not been destroyed by the earthquake.
By using mobile clinics, which supplied medical care to about 70 to 130 patients a day DEMIRA was able to provide medical care to a significantly larger number of people and managed to reach areas that were outside the refugee camp.
In July 2010, once the medical supply situation became somewhat stable, DEMIRA was able to withdraw the doctors, paramedics and nurses from Haiti after a deployment for a total period of over six months.